Date: 1789

"Alas! these joys are mine in dreams alone, / When cruel Reason abdicates her throne!"

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1791

"The generous Mind expanding into Joy, / While no mean Passion mixt its base Alloy;"

— Polwhele, Richard (1760-1838)

Date: 1792

"More noble than the sycophant, whose art / Must heap with taudry flowers thy hated shrine; / I envy not the meed thou canst impart / To crown his service--while, tho' Pride combine / With Fraud to crush me--my unfetter'd heart / Still to the Mountain Nymph may offer mine."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1791, 1792

"For thou to me canst sov'reign bliss impart, / Thy mind my empire--and my throne thy heart."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"Thus on the golden thread that Fancy weaves / Buoyant, as Hope's illusive flattery breathes, / The young and visionary Poet leaves / Life's dull realities, while sevenfold wreaths / Of rainbow light around his head revolve."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"Still shall the plaintive lyre essay its powers / To dress the cave of Care with Fancy's flowers."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"May the soft rays of dawning hope impart / Reviving Patience to my fainting heart."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"Check they the torpid influence of Despair, / Or bid warm Health re-animate the breast; / Where Hope's soft visions have no longer part, / And whose sad inmate--is a broken heart?"

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"The base controul / Of petty despots in their pedant reign / Already hast thou felt;--and high disdain / Of Tyrants is imprinted on thy soul."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"Man, lost in ignorance and toil, / Becomes associate to the soil, / And his heart hardens like his native rock."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)