Date: 1694

"Thy mighty Soul, stamp'd of Heav'n's noblest Coin, / More Pure than Gold, more Precious and Divine, / Does in thy Everlasting Vertues shine."

— Cobb, Samuel (bap. 1675, d. 1713)

Date: 1697

"At such Reflections do's not Nature start, / And try at every Spring to touch your Heart? / Do's not soft Pity's fire begin to burn, / Do not your yearning Bowels in you turn? / In such a case Breasts arm'd with temper'd Steel / And Hearts of Marble, should impression feel."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1723

"If offer'd in a mild and tim'rous Tone, / Nor urg'd and press'd, its [Counsel's] feeble Force is gone, / And leaves no more Impressions on the Mind, / Than Rocks receive from a soft Breeze of Wind."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1738, 1739

"Like Twigs, entrusted to the Planter's Pains, / Who prunes, engrafts, indulges, or restrains, / Till in the Garden Ornament they yield, / And Fruit, which else had cumber'd up the Field: / Or that rich Ore we from the Indies bring, / Which bears, refin'd, the Image of the King; / But mix'd for-e...

— Bancks, John (1709-1751)

Date: 1745

"Thus, a strange kind of cursed necessity / Brings down the sterling temper of his soul, / By base alloy, to bear the current stamp, / Below call'd Wisdom; sinks him into safety; / And brands him into credit with the world; / Where specious titles dignify disgrace, / And Nature's injuries are art...

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: September 27, 1746

"My virtue shows what 'twas the gods design'd, / By chance on Africk's clay they stamp'd a Roman mind."

— Hervey, John, second Baron Hervey of Ickworth (1696-1743)

Date: 1748

"But should some swain more skillful than the rest, / his name on this cold marble breast, / Not rolling ages could deface that name."

— Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley [née Lady Mary Pierrepont] (1689-1762)

Date: 1791

"In the rich realms of polished taste, / Where judgment penetrates to find / The treasures of the unwrought mind, / Where conversation's ardent spirit / Refines from dross the ore of merit, / Where emulation aids the flame / And stamps the sterling bust of fame."

— West, Jane (1758-1852)