Date: 1653

"A thought for Breeding would a Travellour be, / The several Countries in the Brain to see; / Spurr'd with Desires he was, Booted with Hope, / His Cap Curios'ty, Patience was his Cloak: / Thus Suited, strait a Horse he did provide, / And Strong Imagination got to Ride; / Which Sadled with Ambitio...

— Cavendish, Margaret (1623-1673)

Date: 1713

"Not skilful Lower thy Source cou'd find, / Or thro' the well-dissected Body trace / The secret, the mysterious ways, / By which thou dost surprize, and prey upon the Mind."

— Finch [née], Anne, Countess of Winchilsea (1666-1720)

Date: 1716

"My ravish'd Heart strait like a Bird of Prey / Stoop'd at the Lure; And thus my early Youth / Was by vain Thoughts bewildred and mis-led."

— Monck [née Molesworth], Mary (1677?-1715)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"A most susceptible and tender Heart? -- Yes, you may feel it throb, it beats against my Breast, like an imprison'd Bird, and fain would burst it's Cage! to fly to you, the Aim of all its Wishes!"

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"Nor was he less dissolv'd in Rapture, both their Souls seem'd to take Wing together, and left their Bodies motionless, as unworthy to bear a Part in their more elevated Bliss."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1723

Her Muse may "And with thy Spells driv'st Griefs away,
Which else wou'd make my Heart their Prey"

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1738

"Protect me by thy providential Care, / And teach my Soul t'avoid the Tempter's Snare."

— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)

Date: January 3, 1750-51, 1807

"Rein in, on these important subjects, your imagination."

— Mulso [later Chapone], Hester (1727-1801)

Date: 1754

"The character of a candid enquirer is very commendable; for in his search whatever he finds he immediately acknowledges; he gives his judgment liberty to exert itself, and restrains his imagination from soaring beyond its strength, and from declaring that he hath found what is not."

— Fielding, Sarah (1710-1768) and Jane Collier (bap. 1715, d. 1755)

Date: 1754

"I found I had given a loose to a passion which had no other end but to make me frantic, and consequently miserable; and yet insupportable as my life was, and altho' the alteration of Eustace had taken from me the gratification of this whirlwind of passion, yet was I caught in such a snare...

— Fielding, Sarah (1710-1768) and Jane Collier (bap. 1715, d. 1755)