Along crags and sunless cracks I go
Up rib of rock, down spine of stone
I dare not slumber where the night winds whistle
Lest her creeping-soul clutch this heart of thistle

O the same God that abandon'd her
Has in turn abandon'd me
And softenin' the turf with my tears
I dug a well of misery

And, in that well of misery
Hangs a bucket fulla sorrow
Which swings slow an' achin' like a bell
Its toll is dead and hollow

Down that well lies the long-lost dress
Of my lil floatin' girl
That muffles a tear that you let fall
All down that well of misery

Put ya shoulder to the handle, if ya dare
And hoist that bucket, hither
Crank'n'hoist'n'hoist'n'crank
Till ya muscles waste'n'wither

O the same God that abandon'd her
Has in turn abandon'd me
Deep in the desert of despair
I wait at the well of misery