An illness overtook the land,
Mysterious and vague.
Villagers joined, hand in hand,
In what was known as the Dancing Plague.

They skipped beside the street,
To music silent in their ears.
And they tapped their cursed feet,
To music nobody else could hear.

They danced for days, and could have years,
The plague continuing to spread.
And they danced so long, my dear,
Oh, they danced 'til they dropped dead.