Date: 1715

"Thy Virtues flash, / They break at once on my astonish'd Soul; / As if the Curtains of the Dark were drawn, / To let in Day at Midnight."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)

Date: 1717, 1736

"Dim lights of life that burn a length of years, / Useless, unseen, as lamps in sepulchres"

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)

Date: Friday, July 31, 1724

"The true Use of Titles, is, That they may serve, as shining Lights, to lay open and illustrate, the spacious Chambers of a Mind well-furnished."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: Friday, July 31, 1724

"But, to a close, and sordid, Soul, they are like Torches, which we carry down, to illuminate a sickly Dungeon: Where they expose, but the more disgracefully, the narrow Cells, bare Walls; and Dirtiness."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1734, 1753

"Were it a crime in flashing souls, to rise, / And strike each other thro' the meeting eyes; / Those op'ning windows had not let in light, / Nor stream'd ideas out, to voice the sight."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1742

"From dreams, where Thought in Fancy's maze runs mad, / To reason, that heaven-lighted lamp in man, / Once more I wake; and at the destined hour, / Punctual as lovers to the moment sworn, / I keep my assignation with my woe."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: w. 1740, 1748

"Thirsting for Knowledge, but to know the right, / Thro' judgment's optick guide th' illusive sight, / To let in rays on Reason's darkling cell, / And Prejudice's lagging mists dispel."

— Walpole, Horatio [Horace], fourth earl of Orford (1717-1797)