Date: 1796

"The mind of a young woman lady should be clear and unsullied, like a sheet of white paper, or her own fairer face"

— Hays, Mary (1760-1843)

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

"Light of the world, whose cheering ray / Illumes the realms of mind"

— Barbauld, Anna Letitia [née Aikin] (1743-1825)

Date: 1797

"Their [young persons'] minds are like a sheet of white paper, which takes any impression that it is proposed to make upon it."

— Godwin, William (1756-1836)

Date: 1797

In William Collins's "endeavours to embody the fleeting forms of mind, and clothe them with correspondent imagery, he is not infrequently obscure."

— Barbauld, Anna Letitia [née Aikin] (1743-1825)

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)