Such pains, such pleasures now alike are o'er,
And beaus and etiquette shall soon exist no more
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Such pains, such pleasures now alike are o'er,
And beaus and etiquette shall soon exist no more
At their speed behold advancing
Modern men and women dancing;
Step and dress alike express
Above, below from heel to toe,
Male and female awkwardness.
Without a hoop, without a ruffle,
One eternal jig and shuffle,
Where's the air and where's the gait?
Where's the feather in the hat?
Where the frizzed toupee? and where
Oh! where's the powder for the hair?

This dance of death which sounds so musically
Was sure intended for the corpse de ballet.

This dance of death which sounds so musically
Was sure intended for the corpse de ballet.

And the dancing has begun now,
And the dancers whirl round gaily
In the waltz's giddy mazes,
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And the dancing has begun now,
And the dancers whirl round gaily
In the waltz's giddy mazes,
And the ground beneath them trembles.

You've got to dance like nobody's watching and love like it's never going to hurt.

You've got to dance like nobody's watching and love like it's never going to hurt.

My dancing days are done.

My dancing days are done.

Come and trip it as ye go,
On the light fantastic toe.

Come and trip it as ye go,
On the light fantastic toe.

To brisk notes in cadence beating
Glance their many-twinkling feet.

To brisk notes in cadence beating
Glance their many-twinkling feet.

Others import yet nobler arts from France,
Teach kings to fiddle, and make senates dance.

Others import yet nobler arts from France,
Teach kings to fiddle, and make senates dance.

Alike all ages: dames of ancient days
Have led their children through the mirthful maze,
And the read more

Alike all ages: dames of ancient days
Have led their children through the mirthful maze,
And the gay grandsire, skill'd in gestic lore,
Has frisk'd beneath the burden of threescore.