Date: c. 1680

"The Vitall Spirits apprehend thereby / Exposde to danger great suburbs ly, / The which they do desert, and speedily / The Fort of Life the Heart, they Fortify, / The Heart beats up still by her Pulse to Call / Out of the outworks her train Souldiers all / Which quickly come hence."

— Taylor, Edward (1642-1729)

Date: August 4, 1778

"Behold! the soul shall waft away, / Whene'er we come to die, / And leave its cottage made of clay, / In twinkling of an eye."

— Hammon, Jupiter (1711-c.1800)

Date: c. 1862

"After great pain, a formal feeling comes -- / The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs -- / The stiff Heart questions 'was it He, that bore,' / And 'Yesterday, or Centuries before'?"

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1890

"The soul selects her own society, / Then shuts the door; / On her divine majority / Obtrude no more."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"So, safer, guess, with just my soul / Upon the window-pane / Where other creatures put their eyes, / Incautious of the sun."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"A deed knocks first at thought, / And then it knocks at will."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"It then goes out an act, / Or is entombed so still / That only to the ear of God / Its doom is audible."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"The body grows outside,-- / The more convenient way,-- / That if the spirit like to hide, / Its temple stands alway // Ajar, secure, inviting."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: 1892

"One need not be a chamber to be haunted, / One need not be a house; / The brain has corridors surpassing / Material place."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)

Date: w. c. 1871, 1896

"Remembrance has a Rear and Front -- / 'Tis something like a House / It has a Garret also / For Refuse and the Mouse.."

— Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886)