Date: 1700, 1702

"Thought is Damnation, 'tis the Plague of Devils. / To think on what they are! and see this Weapon / Shall shield me from it, plunge me in forgetfulness. / Er'e the dire Scorpion Thought can rouse to sting me."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)

Date: 1714

"His ductile Reason will be wound about, / Be led and turn'd again, say and unsay, / Receive the Yoak, and yeild exact Obedience."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)

Date: 1714

"'Tis all in vain, this Rage that tears thy Bosom, / Like a poor Bird that flutters in its Cage, / Thou beat'st thy self to Death."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)

Date: 1717

"So very well Sweetheart; I am mightily troubled with Phlegm--od I took it a little too high for my Constitution, but every time I look upon you, I fancy my self but Eighteen, and my Heart springs in my Belly like a Bird in a Cage."

— Bullock, Christopher (bap. 1690, d. 1722)

Date: April 18, 1721

"Oh, what a Pain to think! when every Thought, / Perplexing Thought in Intricacies runs, / And Reason knits th'inextricable Toil / In which her self is taken. I am lost, / Poor Insect that I am, I am involv'd, / And bury'd in the Web my self have wrought."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: February 22, 1723

"My favours shall deface the memory / Of past afflictions: on a soul secure / In native innocence, or grief or joy / Shou'd make no deeper prints than air retains; / Where fleet alike the vulture and the dove, / And leave no trace."

— Fenton, Elijah (1683-1730)

Date: 1739

"My Heart flutters within me for Fear of him, like a Bird that's hunted in a Cage."

— Bellamy, Daniel, the Elder (b. 1687)