I was standin' by my window yesterday morning   Without a thought of worry or of care   When I saw the postman comin' up the pathway   With such a happy face and jolly air.      He rang the bell and whistled as he waited   Then he said; "Good morning to you, Jack"   But he little knew the sorrow he had brought me   When he handed me a letter edged in black.      With trembling hand I took this 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."      I bowed my head in sorrow and in sadness   The sunshine of my life, it all had fled   When the post man brought that letter yesterday morning   "Saying come home my boy, your dear old mother's dead."      "The last words your mother ever uttered   Tell my boy I want him to come back   My eyes are blurred, my poor old heart is breaking   So, I'm writing you this letter edged in black."      "Forget those angry words that we had spoken   You know I didn't mean them, don't you, Jack   May the angels bear as witness, I am asking   Your forgiveness in this letter edged in black."