Date: 1667; 2nd ed. in 1674
"Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move / Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful bird / Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid / Tunes her nocturnal note."
preview | full record— Milton, John (1608-1674)
Date: 1787
"Fat flattens the most brilliant thoughts, / Like the buff-stop on harpsichords, or spinets-- / Muffling their pretty little tuneful throats, / That would have chirp'd away like linnets."
preview | full record— Wolcot, John, pseud. Peter Pindar, (1738-1819)