Date: 1729

"A deep damp gloom o'erspreads the murky cell; / Here pining thoughts, and secret terrors dwell!"

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1729

"O'er my sunk spirits frowns a vap'ry scene, / Woe's dark retreat! the madding maze of spleen!"

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1729

"Above, beneath, across, around, [fantastic lightnings] fly! / A dire deception strikes the mental eye!"

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1729

"Zephyrs, that oft, where lovers list'ning lie, / Along the grove, in melting music die, / And in lone caves to minds poetic roll / Seraphic whispers, that abstract the soul."

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1729

"Still o'er my mind wild Fancy holds her sway, / Still on strange visionary land I stray."

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1730, 1731

"But now, my Muse, the arduous Task engage, / And show the Charming Figure on the Stage, / Describe her Look, her Action, Voice and Mein, / The gay Coquette, soft Maid, or haughty Queen, / So bright she [Mrs. Oldfield] shone in every different Part, / She gain'd despotick Empire o'er the Heart, /...

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1731-1732, 1777

"Your poet shall allot your Lord his part, / And paint him in his noblest throne--your heart."

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1733, 1777

"Instead of hallow'd hill, or vocal vale, / Or stream, sweet-echoing to the tuneful tale; / Damp dens confin'd, or barren desarts spread, / Which spectres haunted, and the muses fled; / Ruins in pensive emblem seem'd to rise, / And all was dark, or wild, to Fancy's eyes."

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)

Date: 1734-1735

"Hark! she invites from city smoke and noise, / Vapours impure, and from impurer joys; / From various evils, that, with rage combin'd, / Untune the body, and pollute the mind."

— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)