A Texas cowboy lay down on a barroom floor,
Having drunk so much he could drink no more;
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain
To dream that he rode on a hell-bound train.
The engine with murderous blood was damp
And was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones,
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.
The boiler was filled with lager beer
And the devil himself was the engineer;
The passengers were a most motly crew—
Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew,
Rich men in broadcloth, beggers in rags,
Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,
Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white,
All chained together—O God, what a site!
While the train rushed on at an awful pace—
The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
Wider and wider the country grew,
As faster and faster the engine flew.
Louder and louder the thunder crashed
And brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became
Till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.
And out of the distance there arose a yell,
"Ha, ha," said the devil, "we're nearing hell!"
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain
And begged the devil to stop the train.
But he capered about and danced for glee,
And laughed and joked at their misery.
"My faithful friends, you have done the work
And the devil never can a payday shirk.
"You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor,
The starving brother you've turned from the door;
You've laid up gold where the canker rust,
And have given free vent to your beastly lust.
"You've justice scorned, and corruption sown,
And trampled the laws of nature down.
You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied,
And mocked at God in your hell-born pride.
"You have paid full fair, so I'll carry you through,
For it's only right you should have your due.
Why, the laborer always expects his hire,
So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire,
"Where your flesh will waste in the flames that roar,
And my imps torment you forevermore."
Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry,
His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high
Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour
To be saved from his sin and the demon's power;
And his prayers and his vows were not in vain,
For he never road the hell-bound train.
Notes
This poem has been performed many times over the years and has been adapted by various singers.
There are arguments for other versions being the original but none can be conclusive at this late stage.
For example many people cite Tom Gray as the Texas Cowboy.
Leave a guest comment (subject to review)
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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Heaven Bound Train?
From guest Debbie (contact)
My dad used to recite this poem also, but then after he would recite the Heaven Bound Train one. I am looking for the full words to it as my dad can't remember them all. It goes something like this: The poor widow worn with the toil of the day knelt down in her humble home to pray and she fell asleep with tired brian and dreamt she rode on the heaven bound train. The engine was a glorious sight to behold Studded with diamonds and made of pure gold By the power of God it sped through the air to the city celestial and wond'rous fair Does anyone know what the rest is or where I could find the rest of this? -
i love this poem so much
From guest Melissa Smith (contact)
i love this poem so much i put it on my myspace it's so scary-ing good that i read it every night to go to sleep -
Excellent!
From guest Joe Rivera (contact)
I first read this poem in my homework a couple years ago and i wanted to look for it and well here it is. I really likes it because it tells us to live a life without regrets and its a good story to spread around -
Hell bound train
From guest William Shehan (contact)
My father recited this poem to me when I was in my early teens. His version was a little diffrent in places, I am 79 so the poem and I have been around for a while. -
Hell Bound Train
From guest Stacey Diggs (contact)
I am so happy to have finally found this poem!! I first read it in an old book of poetry that my mother had, and fell in love with it! I was about 10 years old then. The book was lost and I have been looking for it since then...I am 47 years old now!! I am going to copy and frame it to remind me of the consequences my actions can have! -
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To Stacey Diggs
Hi Stacey, Wow, your story is almost mine exactly except I am 54. My mother had a big black poem book that I absolutely loved. I thought it was called "America's Best Loved Poems" but I have been to several libraries and unable to find that exact one. It had poems that tell a story, about animals, love, whimsy, religious poems, and friendship. I loved that book and this particular poem was one I memorized for school. My how the years fly. My dear Mom passed less than 2 years ago at age of 82. While moving things out of the house I looked but couldn't find the book. If you now which book or have any idea please let me know. -
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To Patti Taylor
I believe the book you're looking for is, ‘The Best Loved Poems of America’, my grandmother just brought it into me for a school project. Here's as it is in the book,
THE HELL-BOUND TRAIN
A Texas cowboy lay down on a barroom floor,
Having drunk so much he could drink no more,
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain
To dream that he rode on the hell-bound train.
The engine with murderous blood was damp
And was brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp;
An imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones,
While the furnace rang with a thousand groans.
The boiler was filler with lager beer
And the devil himself was the engineer;
The passengers were a most motley crew—
Church member, atheist, Gentile, and Jew.
Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags,
Handsome young ladies, and withered old hags,
Yellow and black men, red, brown, and white,
All chained together—O God, what a sight!
White the train rush on at an awful pace—
The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face;
Wider and wider the country grew,
As faster and faster the engine flew.
Louder and louder the thunder crashed
And brighter and brighter the lightning flashed;
Hotter and hotter the air became
Till the clothes were burned from each quivering frame.
And out of the distance there arose a yell,
“Ha, ha,” said the devil, “we're nearing hell!”
Then oh, how the passengers all shrieked with pain
And begged the devil to stop the train.
But he capered about and danced for glee,
And laughed and joked at their misery.
“My faithful friends, you have done the work
And the devil never can a payday shirk.
“You've bullied the weak, you've robbed the poor,
The starving brother you've turned from the door;
You've laid up gold where canker rust,
And have given free vent to your beastly lust.
“You've justice scorned, and corruption sown,
And trampled the laws of nature down,
You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plundered, and lied,
And mocked at God in your hell-born pride.
“You have paid full fare, so I'll carry you through,
For it's only right you should have your due.
Why, the laborer always expects his hire,
So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire,
“Where your flesh will waste in the flames that roar,
And my imps torment you forevermore.”
Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished cry,
His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high
Then he prayed as he never had prayed till that hour
To be saved from his sin and the demon's power;
And his prayers and his vows were not in vain,
For he never rode the hell-bound train.
UNKNOWN
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Hell bound train
From guest stephen simpson (contact)
Tom Gray lay on the tavern floor, having drank so much he could drink no more etc. Thats the way the original poem was written. Please look further, I'll inquire as to the origin and lets compare notes. -
wow we love this poem!!!
From guest casey/caroline (contact)
hi my friend and i were gonna use this poem as a class project because we fell in love with it, but we cant use it since the author is anonmyous so we were wondering if u could tell us as soon as possible because it is due very soon!!! -
Loved it!
July 29, 2006
Hello Sherry,
My Grandfather used this poem in his sermons back in the 1920's. As a couple people had mentioned there are some variations to this poem. This is the version he had in his bible.
Tom Gray lay down on the bar room floor
He drank so much he couod drink no more
So he gell to sleep with a troubled brain
An dreamed that he rode on a Hell-Bound Train
The engine with blood was red and damp
For fuel and imp was shoveling bones
While from the fiery furnace rang a million groans.
The boiler was filled with larger beer
And the Devil himself was the engineer
The passengetrs were a motely crew
Church-members, atheist, Gentile, and Jew
Rich men and poor men and begger in rags
Yellow and black men and brown and white
Were all chained together, what a terrible sight.
Thre train dashed on at a terrible pace
The hot ashes scorched the hands and face
Faster and faster the engine flew
Wilder and wilder the country grew
Brighter and brighter the lightning flashed
Louder and louder the thunder crashed
Hotter and hotter the air became
Until it burned the clothes from each quivering frame.
And there was heard in the distance a horrilbe yell
Ha! Ha! Laughed the Devil, we are nearing Hell
Then oh, how the passengers shrank in their pain
And begged the Devil to stop the train
But he capered about and sang in his glee
And said,"This is your pay for serving me."
You have murdered the weak and robbed the poor
The starving brother turned from your door.
You have laid up gold which canker and rusts
And given free vent to your fleshy lust
You have drank, and rioted, and murdered, and lied
And mocked at God in your Hell-Bound pride
You have paid full fare so I'll carry you through
It is only just you should get your due
Why, every laborer expects his hire
So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire.
Tom awoke with a sudden cry
His brow was wet with sweat
And his hair standing on end
And he prayed as he never prayed before
God save me from drink and the Devil's hirer
And Tom Gray's prayers were not in vain
For that day he got off the Hell-Bound Train.
The wording of this poem seems more appropriate for the time frame of the late 1800's and early 1900's. The stanza are longer. I am not sure how or where it things got changed but my copy is at least a 100 years old.
Sincerely,
Marcie
Bershire, New York
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Older Version?
Marcie-
Thanks for posting your family version of this poem. I think I'll compare it with what I find on my regular folk music website: mudcat.org
Charley Noble
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Hi Sherry,
I have found a couple of variants on this poem. The one I believe you are looking for is the same as this one with just the first line being different.
Tom Gray lay down on the barroom floor
Having drunk so much he could drink no more.
So he fell asleep with a troubled brain,
And dreamt he rode on the Hell-bound Train.
This may have been change at sometime possibly by a Texan who wanted to take the image away from his own people or maybe it was done humourously at someone called Tom Gray.
The poem has no known author and hence is listed as anonymous.
Andrew -
The poetry that is written here "Hell-bound train" could please tell me the orianill aouther of this? It dose not start out the same as this one, it go's something like "tom grey lay down on the bar room floor he had drunk so much he could hold no more."
Now this poetry was written back in the 1800's and I am trying
to find the a auther to this one peace. If you can help me please write back A.S.P. Thank You. -
This poem is great however i want to let you know people are trying to plaigerize and i will link you to just one i have found. forum.tibia.com/forum/index.php?subtopic=thread&threadid=966445
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