For shouts were heard ’mid fire and smoke,

And twice ten hundred voices spoke—

“The playhouse is in flames!”

And, lo! where Catherine Street extends,

A fiery tail its lustre lends

To every window-pane;

Blushes each spout in Martlet Court,

And Barbican, moth-eaten fort,

And Covent Garden kennels sport,

A bright ensanguined drain;