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Date: 1790

"'Tis thus the arch deceiver, busy still / To ruin man, besets the female heart, / Insinuates evil counsel, and inflames / The hungry passions, that like arid flax / Catch at a spark, and mount into a blaze."

— Hurdis, James (1763-1801)

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Date: 1789, 1791, 1799

"When Air's pure essence joins the vital flood, / And with phosphoric Acid dyes the blood, / Your Virgin trains the transient Heat dispart, / And lead the soft combustion round the heart; / Life's holy lamp with fires successive feed"

— Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802)

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Date: 1793

"Perish the masses for a burning soul, / That never yet extinguish'd half a coal!"

— Wolcot, John, pseud. Peter Pindar, (1738-1819)

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Date: 1796

"The effect [of wit on the mind] is strong,--because it's odd, / Like fire electric from a clod; / Or when fix'd air puts out a light, / Tho' vital makes it blaze more bright."

— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)

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Date: 1798 [1797?]

"Ah! who can tell what pow'rs that mind possess'd, / What flames of lambent genius warm'd his breast!"

— Jones, Jenkin [Captain] (fl. 1798)

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Date: 1798 [1797?]

"Their hearts still glow'd with unextinguish'd flames."

— Jones, Jenkin [Captain] (fl. 1798)

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Date: 1798 [1797?]

"Elf, we'll promote the cause of human weal, / To yon dissecting sage these truths reveal. / Show him what use the Renal Capsule serves, / The liquid Fire that floats along the nerves; / Give him the office of the Spleen to find, / And let him see the Nidus of the mind."

— Jones, Jenkin [Captain] (fl. 1798)

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Date: 1801

The mind's fires may be doubled

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)

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Date: 1801

Virtue may be a man's "eternal flame" or "ruling passion"

— Blacklock, Thomas (1721-1791)

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Date: 1803

Minds immortal may learn the "power of Cupid" and "enamour'd burn"

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)

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The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.