American Old Time Song Lyrics: 28 The Postmans Story

Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 28

THE POSTMAN'S STORY.
Copyright, 1890, by Harding Brothers.
Written and composed by Charles Osborne.
Arranged by E. W. Eyre.

Many a time in my fancy I see
Many a face that is watching for me;
Mighty and lowly, the rich and the poor.
Welcome the postman's footstep at the door;
One eager face I can see as I stand,
Shading his eyes with an old wrinkled hand.
Winter and Summer I found him the same,
Waiting a letter that never came.

Chorus.
The old man was waiting and watching at the door,
Longing for a letter from the lad he'll see no more;
See how wistfully he stands as he clasps his feeble hands,
While the ship lies a wreck upon the treacherous sands.

Two years before, from the city of Cork,
The good ship " America" went out to New York;
Standing on deck was a youth strong and brave,
Seeking a fortune away on the wave;
Willful And headstrong, determined to win.
What could the old father do but give in;
Then came their parting, that chill Autumn night,
Ended at last by that promise to write.-Chorus.

Off to the harbor the train swiftly ran.
Back to the house went the heart-broken man;
All earthly comforts denied him but one,
Though he'd not see, he might hear from his son;
On went the ship, but she stuck on the sands,
Not one was saved of her two hundred hands;
How it occurred will never be known
Until the ocean shall yield up its own.-Chorus.

Two years ago ah! it scarcely seems true.
Since the "America " was lost with her crew;
When the old man heard the tidings, they said,
He made no sign, for his reason had fled;
Tender hands nursed him to life back again;
Weak as a babe to the end he'll remain;
When I deliver my letters that way,
There he will stand at his post night and day.

Chorus.
The old man still watching and waiting at the door,
Longing for a letter from the lad he'll see no more;
Yet, alas! in vain he stands as he clasps his feeble hands,
While the ship lies a wreck on the treacherous sands.