Date: 1767

"Though arm'd with iron breast, and heart of steel, / Who slew the lion fell, lov'd Hylas fair, / Young Hylas graceful with his curling hair"

— Fawkes, Francis (1720-1777); Theocritus (3rd. Century. B.C.)

Date: 1779, 1781

"Truth indeed is always truth, and reason is always reason; they have an intrinsick and unalterable value, and constitute that intellectual gold which defies destruction: but gold may be so concealed in baser matter that only a chymist can recover it; sense may be so hidden in unrefined and plebe...

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)

Date: 1791

"Hail to each ancient sacred shade / Of those, who gave the Muses aid, / Skill'd verse mysterious to unfold, / And set each brilliant thought in gold."

— Smart, Christopher (1722-1771)