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Brewster; Ballads and Songs of Indiana 293
63 THE ORPHAN GIRL
Five texts and two airs of this song have been recovered. All five of the variants are practically alike, the chief difference being in the stanza division, C having an eight-line stanza instead of the usual four.
For additional texts, see Brown, p. 10; Cox, p. 446; Journal, XXVIII, 170; XLV, 66; XLVI, 49; Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 364; Shearin and Combs, p. 32; Henry, Songs Sung in the Southern Appalachians, p. 124.
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"The Orphan Girl." Contributed by Mrs. Mary J. Shriver, of East St. Louis, Illinois. Learned in Indiana from her father, Mr. Stephen Cox. November 30, 1935.
1. No room, no room for the orphan girl,
No room at the friendless hall, As she trembling stood on the polished steps And leaned on the marble wall.
2. Her dress was thin and her feet were bare,
And the snow had covered her head; "0 give me a home/' she feebly cried, "A home and a bit of bread!"
3. The night was dark and the snow fell fast,
And the rich man closed his door, And he proudly scorned as he hastily said, "No room, no bread for the poor."
4. The rich man slept on his velvet cot
And dreamed of his silver and gold, While the little girl in her bed of snow Still murmured, "So cold, so cold.
5. "My father, alas, I never knew,"
And a tear dimmed her eyes so bright; "My mother sleeps in a new-made grave, "Ks her orphan that begs tonight |
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