The American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress has this:



THE DRUNKARD'S LONE CHILD

Out in the gloomy night sadly I roam,
I've no mother now, no friends, no home;
Nobody cares for me, no one would cry,
Even if poor little Bessie should die!
Barefoot and tired, I've wandered all day.
Asking for work--but I'm too small, they say;
On the damp ground I must now lay my head--
Father's a drunkard, and Mother is dead!

Chorus: Mother, oh! why did you leave me alone,
With no one to love me, no friends, and no home!
Dark is the night and the storm rages wild;
God! pity Bessie, the drunkard's lone child.

We were so happy--till father drank rum:
Then all our sorrows and troubles begun;
Mother grew paler, and wept every day;
Baby and I were too hungry to play--
Slowly they faded, and one summer's night
Found their sweet faces all silent and white--
And, with big tears slowly dropping, I said:
Father's a drunkard, and Mother is dead!

Chorus.

Oh! if some temperance men only could find
Poor wretched Father, and speak very kind:
If they could stop him from drinking: why, then
I would feel very happy again!
Is it too late? Men of temperance, please try:
For, little Bessie will soon starve and die:
All the day long I've been begging for bread--
Father's drunkard, and Mother is dead!

Chorus.

from an undated song sheet, H. De Marsan, Publisher, ... 60 Chatham Street, N. Y.

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Masato posted this in the Little Bessie thread, but I've included it here for comparison.