Date: 1712, 1796
"Unsteady nature, varying like the wind, / Hurries to each extreme th'unstable mind; / At sea becalm'd, we wish some brisker gales / Would on us rise, and fill our limber sails: / We have our wish; and straight our skiff is toss'd / So high, we are in danger to be lost."
preview | full record— Ellwood, Thomas (1639-1713)
Date: 1725-6
"Thus anchor'd safe on reason's peaceful coast, / Tempests of wrath his soul no longer tost; / Restless his body rolls, to rage resign'd: / As one who long with pale-ey'd famine pin'd, / The sav'ry cates on glowing embers cast / Incessant turns, impatient for repast"
preview | full record— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744), Broome, W. and Fenton, E.
Date: 1725
A poet shouldn't unfurl his sails in a gale of ungovernable rage
preview | full record— Pitt, Christopher (1699-1748)
Date: 1730
"Tho' his capacious Head, the sacred Ark! / Where a whole World of Science does imbark, / Has steer'd and labour'd all it can, / As Reason fill'd the Sail, / Yet what does all this fruitless search avail?"
preview | full record— Woodward, George (b. 1708?)
Date: 1744
"Eternity's vast ocean lies before thee; / There, there, Lorenzo, thy Clarissa sails. / Give thy mind sea-room; keep it wide of earth, / That rock of souls immortal; cut thy cord; / Weigh anchor; spread thy sails; call every wind; / Eye thy great Pole-star; make the land of life."
preview | full record— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)