Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads

<p class="tit-song">THE COWBOY'S DREAM</p> <p>Last night as I lay on the prairie,<br/> And looked at the stars in the sky,<br/> I wondered if ever a cowboy<br/> Would drift to that sweet by and by.</p> <p class="add1em">Roll on, roll on;<br/> Roll on, little dogies, roll on, roll on,<br/> Roll on, roll on;<br/> Roll on, little dogies, roll on.</p> <p>The road to that bright, happy region<br/> Is a dim, narrow trail, so they say;<br/> But the broad one that leads to perdition<br/> Is posted and blazed all the way.</p> <p>They say there will be a great round-up,<br/> And cowboys, like dogies, will stand,<br/> To be marked by the Riders of Judgment<br/> Who are posted and know every brand.</p> <p>I know there's many a stray cowboy<br/> Who'll be lost at the great, final sale,<br/> When he might have gone in the green pastures<br/> Had he known of the dim, narrow trail.</p> <p>I wonder if ever a cowboy <span class="pagenum"><SPAN id="page019" name="page019"></SPAN>(p. 019)</span><br/> Stood ready for that Judgment Day,<br/> And could say to the Boss of the Riders,<br/> "I'm ready, come drive me away."</p> <p>For they, like the cows that are locoed,<br/> Stampede at the sight of a hand,<br/> Are dragged with a rope to the round-up,<br/> Or get marked with some crooked man's brand.</p> <p>And I'm scared that I'll be a stray yearling,&mdash;<br/> A maverick, unbranded on high,&mdash;<br/> And get cut in the bunch with the "rusties"<br/> When the Boss of the Riders goes by.</p> <p>For they tell of another big owner<br/> Whose ne'er overstocked, so they say,<br/> But who always makes room for the sinner<br/> Who drifts from the straight, narrow way.</p> <p>They say he will never forget you,<br/> That he knows every action and look;<br/> So, for safety, you'd better get branded,<br/> Have your name in the great Tally Book.</p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />