Lurid rumors spread through inns and oyster shell taverns
The reaper had returned to our shores
His scythe harvested souls down in Drury Lane
Blood-red crosses were painted on the doors
A comet passed above the courtyards and towers
And hollow-eyed prophets were counting the hours
Coaches, horses and wagons spilled out of the city
As the dog days of summer drew near
We repented our sins and prayed to the Lord
To keep us alive in the PLAGUE YEAR

My neighbor escaped from an infected house
Left his gold coins in the watchman's coat
Made his way through the country to a waterfront village
Where the Thames was lined with ships and boats
The cries of the damned filled the woods, fields and valleys
After dark, the dead-carts rattled through the alleys
Feeding the bodies to hungry plague pits and graves
The cursed metropolis fell silent with fear
From poor, crowded outskirts to rich marble halls
They all were devoured by the PLAGUE YEAR

When danger loomed I remained in my room
Gloomy cellars filled with provisions and wine
I gazed out my window at the chaos and doom
Alone with my journal and my brooding mind
Recording the horror that would echo in time

Dead leaves swept like spirits through the silent streets
Hordes of skeletons rode in triumph though the land
When they danced grotesquely to the requiem bells
We despaired for the end seemed at hand
But the storm clouds were tinged with electric fire
And snowflakes cascaded from dark chapel spires
The pestilence faded and death lost his reign
Symphonious with the planetary spheres
The survivors were lost in a strange new world
Forever changed by the PLAGUE YEAR

© 2014 Alex Schaetzing. All Rights Reserved.