Fatherless and motherless, no brothers have I, <br />And all my little sisters in the cold grave lie; <br />Wasted with hunger I saw them falling dead - <br />Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed. <br /> <br />Friendless and loverless, I wander to and fro, <br />Singing while my faint heart is breaking fast with woe, <br />Smiling in my sorrow, and singing for my bread - <br />Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed. <br /> <br />Harp clang and merry song by stranger's door and board, <br />None ask wherefore tremble my pale lips at each word; <br />None care why the color from my wan cheek has fled - <br />Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed. <br /> <br />Smiling and singing still, tho' hunger, want, and woe, <br />Freeze the young life-current in my veins as I go; <br />Begging for my living, yet wishing I were dead - <br />Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.<br /><br />Jane Francesca Wilde<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-itinerant-singing-girl/
