At one of the annual Banquets given in Guildhall
.

Gorgeous and splendid was the sight;
From myriad lamps a fairy light
Enshrin'd in wreaths the Gothic wall,
And heav'nly music fill'd the hall!

But there was one-(alas! that I
Had ever seen)-the melody
Her voice surpassed, and brighter far
Her eyes than ev'ry mimic star!

I gaz'd, until, oh! thought divine!
I fancied she I saw was mine;
But soon the beauteous vision flew-
The stranger-form I lov'd withdrew.

Yet still she lives within my breast,
There mem'ry has her form imprest:-
Thus, when some minstrel's strain is done,
Sounds seem to breathe, for ever gone!