The Hell-Bound Train

Tom Gray lay down on the barroom floor,

he drank so much he could drink no more.

So he fell asleep with a troubled brain and

he dreamed that he had rode on a hell-bound train.

The engine with blood was red and damp and

brilliantly lit with a brimstone lamp.

An Imp, for fuel was shoveling bones while the

furnace rang with a thousand groans.

The passengers made such a motley crew,

church member Atheist, Gentile and Jew.

Rich men in broadcloth, beggars in rags,

beautiful young women and withered old hags.

Yellow and black men, red, brown and white,

all chained together, such a horrible sight.

Then in the distance there arose such a yell, “ha-ha”

shouted the devil, we’re nearing hell!

Then, oh how the passengers shrieked in pain

as they begged the devil to stop the hell-bound train.

But he capered about and he sang with glee

and he laughed and joked at their agony.

“Faithful friends,” he said, “you’ve done my work, and

the devil can never a payday shirk.”

“You’ve bullied the weak, you’ve robbed the poor,

the starving brother you turned from your door.”

“You’ve laid up gold where the canker rusts,

and you filled your life with worldly lusts”

“You have justices scorned and corruption sown,

and trampled under God’s law for all that you own.”

“You have drunk and robbed, scorned and lied,

and mocked at God ‘til the day you died.

“You’ve paid your fare in full,

and now your rightful due you’ll pull.”

“The laborer is indeed worthy of his hire,

and I will deliver you safe this day into the lake of fire.”

Then Tom awoke in an agonizing cry, his clothes full

of sweat and his hair standing high.

He cried and prayed as never before,

as he ran through that barroom door.

But his cries and prayers were not in vain,

for he never again rode the hell-bound train.

…author unknown