Date: 1684

"Nor were these Fruits in a rough Soil bestown / As Gemms are thick'st in rugged Quarries sown."

— Oldham, John (1653-1683)

Date: 1685

"One would have thought such melting Words / Should break an Heart of Steel."

— Mason, John (1646?-1694)

Date: 1685

"Look, as iron put into the fire becomes all fiery, so the soul dwelling in the God of dove, becomes all love, all delight, all joy."

— Flavell, John (bap. 1630, d. 1691)

Date: 1685

A "heaven-born mind" may have "no dross to purge from [its] rich ore"

— Dryden, John (1631-1700)

Date: 1686

"Charm her with tender and obliging words, and make her heart like Gold within a Furnace; Melt down before the Language of my Love."

— D'Urfey, Thomas (1653?-1723)

Date: 1686

"Or coldness, worse than Steel, the Loyal heart doth wound"

— Killigrew, Anne (1660-1685)

Date: 1686

A " Heav'n-born Mind" may have "no Dross to purge from [its] Rich Ore:"

— Killigrew, Anne (1660-1685)

Date: 1686, 1689, 1697

"Now these Imperfections are not intrinsick, but accidental to the Soul, nor do they argue its corruptibility or mortality, any more than the spots and clouds we see in some Diamonds, do prove them to be less durable then others which are more limpid and transparent."

— Nourse, Timothy (c.1636–1699)

Date: 1686, 1689, 1697

"THE Pearl has this Prerogative above all other Jewels, that whereas they require form and lustre from Art, the Pearl only is perfected by Nature. Its colour, roundness, smoothness and bigness (in which consists its whole beauty) are all fram'd in its Mothers womb; but Man is a Jewel of another N...

— Nourse, Timothy (c.1636–1699)

Date: 1686, 1689, 1697

"'Tis so many times in the capacities of Youth: they who can receive any impression like the Virgin-wax, will as easily suffer a defacement unless it be hardned and matur'd by Time: whereas others who are hard to be wrought upon like Steel, retain the Images which are Engraven on them with much m...

— Nourse, Timothy (c.1636–1699)