Date: 1651

"Now, treacherous Boy, thou hast me sure, / Playing the Wanton with my Heart, / As foolish Children that a Bird have got, / Slacken the Thread, but not unty the knot."

— Sherburne, Sir Edward (bap. 1616, d. 1702)

Date: 1716

"My ravish'd Heart strait like a Bird of Prey / Stoop'd at the Lure; And thus my early Youth / Was by vain Thoughts bewildred and mis-led."

— Monck [née Molesworth], Mary (1677?-1715)

Date: 1731

"Here Arlington, thy mighty Mind disdains / Inferior Earth, and breaks its servile Chains, / Aloft on Contemplations Wings you rise, / Scorn all below and mingle with the Skies."

— Boyse, Samuel (1708-1749)

Date: 1745

"Keep strongly in the hot rebellious Mind, / Be it with Bits restrain'd, and Curbs confin'd. / The docile Horse in prime of Years is broke / To bear the Rein, or stretch beneath the Yoke."

— Whaley, John (bap. 1710, d. 1745)

Date: 1747

"But the wild passions, once broke loose, to check / Surpass'd his pow'r, or the slack'd reins recall."

— Cardinal Melchior de Polignac (1661-1741)