Date: 1713

"Not skilful Lower thy Source cou'd find, / Or thro' the well-dissected Body trace / The secret, the mysterious ways, / By which thou dost surprize, and prey upon the Mind."

— Finch [née], Anne, Countess of Winchilsea (1666-1720)

Date: 1714

"For if vast Thoughts shou'd play about a Mind / Inclos'd in Flesh, and dregging cumbrous Life, / Fluttering and beating in the mournful Cage, / It soon wou'd break its Grates and wing away."

— Evans, Abel (1679-1737)

Date: 1718

"'From forth thy Bosom turn the Viper-Guest, / 'Or, e'er he bite thee, crush him at thy Breast"

— Amhurst, Nicholas (1697-1742)

Date: 1718

"Affronted Reason stings us with Remorse, / Suggests the Danger and obstructs our Course."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1718

"Repeated Prostitutions conquer Shame, / Assure the Face, and struggling Reason tame."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1718

"Should you the Reins to guilty Passions give, / And to suppress reluctant Conscience strive, / You must maintain a long uncertain Field, / By Turns prevail, by Turns inglorious yield."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1718

"That dreadful Worm may long enchanted lie, / And roll'd in Volumes sleep, but cannot die; / Rousing at Times, indignant 'twill exert / Immortal Rage, and sting you to the Heart."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1722

"When religious passions, namely, love, desire, hope and delight are exalted in the highest degree, and agitate the soul with the greatest vehemence, while reason presides as sovereign, holds the reins, and directs all their motions; this is so far from being a wild and extravagant temper of mind...

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1727

"Some, with a dry and barren Brain, / Poor Rogues! like costive Lap-Dogs strain; / While others with a Flux of Wit, / The Reader and their Friends besh**t."

— Somervile, William (1675-1742)

Date: 1733

"I see the Soul in pensive fit, / And mopeing like sick Linnet sit, / With dewy eye and moulting wing, / Unperch'd, averse to fly or sing."

— Green, Matthew (1696-1737) [pseud. Peter Drake, a Fisherman of Brentford]