The Letter Edged in Black

A popular song from 1897
Words and music by Hattie Nevada

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The sheet music:

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Accompaniment by Denese Coulbeck:

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Accompaniment by Benjamin R. Tubb:

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Lyrics

1. I was standing by the window yesterday morning,
   Without a thought of worry or of care,
   When I saw the postman coming up the pathway,
   With such a happy smile and jaunty air.
   Oh, he rang the bell and whistled while he waited,
   And then he said “Good morning to you, Jack.”
   But he little knew the sorrow that he brought me
   When he handed me a letter edged in black.

Refrain
As I heard the postman whistling yester morning,
Coming down the pathway with his pack,
Oh he little knew the sorrow that he brought me
When he handed me a letter edged in black.

2. Then with trembling hand I took the letter from him,
   I broke the seal and this is what it said:
   “Come home, my boy, your dear old father wants you!
   Come home, my boy, your dear old mother’s dead!”
   O your mother’s words the last she ever uttered
   Were, ‘Tell my boy I want him to come back,’
   My eyes are blurred, my poor old heart is breaking,
   While I’m writing you this letter edged in black.”
3. O I bow my head in sadness and in sorrow,
   The sunlight of my life it now has fled,
   Since the postman brought that letter yester morning
   Saying,”Come, my boy, your mother dear is dead”
   O it said, “Forgive the angry words ’twere spoken,
   You know I never meant them, don’t you, Jack?
   O the angels bear me witness, I am asking
   Your forgiveness in this letter edged in black.”

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Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: