<svg width="500" height="500" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" >
  <defs>
    <path id="path" d="M 100 200 C 200 100 300 0 400 100" />
    <style>
      text {
        font: 40px monospace;
      }
    </style>
  </defs>

  <text transform="translate(0, 40)">a <textPath href="#path">b </textPath> c</text>
</svg>