In a little rosewood casket
Resting on a marble stand
There's a package of old letters
Written by a cherished hand
Will you go and bring them, sister,
and read them o 'er to me?
Often I have tried to read them,
but for tears I could not see.
Read those precious lines so slowly,
So that I'll not miss a one.
His last word for me is done.
You have got them now, dear sister,
Come sit down upon my bed
And press gently to your bosom
This poor throbbing, aching head.
Tell him, sister, when you see him,
That I never ceased to love,
And my dying prayers to meet him
Tell him that I never blamed him,
Not an unkind word was spoke.
Tell, oh, tell him, sister, tell him,
My poor heart from coldness broke.
Tell him that I always loved him,
though to me he's proved untrue
Tell him that I'll not forget him
till I bid this world adieu
When I'm dead and in my coffin,
With my shroud around me bound,
And my narrow grave is ready,
In some lonely churchyard ground,
Placed his letters and his locket
Both together o 'er my heart
And the golden ring he gave me
From my finger never part
You have finished now, dear sister,
will you read them o 'er again?
While I listen to you read them,
I will lose all sense of pain.
While I listen to you read them,
I will gently fall asleep,
Fall asleep to wake with Jesus,
O dear sister, do not weep. you
