Ballad of the bony fiddler

The maiden sleeps in her chamber,

Where the trembling moonbeams glance;

Without, there singeth and ringeth

The melody of a dance.

"I will look just once from the window,

To see who breaks my rest."

A skeleton fiddles before her,

And sings like one possessed.

"To dance with me you promised,

And you have broken your vow;

To-night is a ball in the churchyard,

Come out and dance with me now."

The music bewitches the maiden;

Forth from her home doth she go;

She follows the bony fiddler,

Who sings as he scrapes his bow.

He fiddles and hops and dances,

And rattles his bones as he plays,

His skull nods grimly and strangely,

In the clear moonlight's rays.