Date: 1664

"They are moved (if I may dare to say so) like the rational creatures of the Almighty Poet, who walk at liberty, in their own opinion, because their fetters are invisible; when, indeed, the prison of their will is the more sure for being large; and instead of an absolute power over their actions,...

— Dryden, John (1631-1700)

Date: 1664

"Come! let thy locks (whose every Hair / A willing Lover doth ensnare) / Fetter my Soul, in those soft Chaines, / Where Beauty link't with Love, remains!"

— Bold, Henry (1627-1683)

Date: 1664

"Come! let thy locks (whose every Hair / A willing Lover doth ensnare) / Fetter my Soul, in those soft Chaines, / Where Beauty link't with Love, remains!"

— Bold, Henry (1627-1683)

Date: 1664

"But that benefit which I consider most in it [rhyme], because I have not seldom found it, is, that it bounds and circumscribes the fancy: for imagination in a poet is a faculty so wild and lawless, that, like an high-ranging spaniel, it must have clogs tied to it, lest it outrun the judgment."

— Dryden, John (1631-1700)

Date: August, 1674; 1675

"How! Is your Soul once more enter'd into that Bondage?"

— Crowne, John (bap. 1641, d. 1712)

Date: 1675

"But when Christ's spirit comes i'th' soul to be, / From sin and bondage Christ doth set it free."

— Keach, Benjamin (1640-1704)

Date: May 25, 1676

"I'th' worst of Prisons I'll my Body bind, / Rather than Chain my free-born mind, / For such a foolish Toy."

— Shadwell, Thomas (1642-1692)

Date: July 25, 1676; 1677

"Therefore keep back the heart you come to restore, mine from this hour shakes off your bonds, and that you may not again enslave it, this day I will put it under the protection of one who is at least as fair as you."

— Ravenscroft, Edward (c.1650- c.1700)

Date: 1677

"And mine / The truest Heart that e're obey'd the Dictates / Of Loves Imperial Power, from that hour / That first obtain'd my Eye the happy Object / Of your Perfections, my poor fetter'd Heart, / Proud of the Chains of such a Conquering Beauty, / Resolv'd to Grace the long wish'd Victory / With a...

— D'Urfey, Thomas (1653?-1723)

Date: 1678

"But Fancy, I think, in Poetry, is like Faith in Religion; it makes far discoveries, and soars above reason, but never clashes, or runs against it. Fancy leaps, and frisks, and away she's gone; whilst reason rattles the chains, and follows after."

— Rymer, Thomas (1641-1713)