Date: 1686, 1712
"When first my Soul put on its fleshly Load, / It was Imprison'd in the dark Abode; / My Feet were Fetters, my Hands Manacles, / My Sinews Chains, and all Confinement else; / My Bones the Bars of my loath'd Prison grate; / My Tongue the Turn-key, and my Mouth the Gate."
preview | full record— Arwaker, Edmund (c.1655-1730)
Date: 1733-5
"[Love's] Pleasures have so many Pains, / And leave such Stings behind, / That I'm resolv'd to quit the Chains, / And free my captive Mind."
preview | full record— Bowden, Samuel (fl. 1733-1761)
Date: 1796
"Fetters are needless where the affections are rivetted by beneficent actions. Thou hast left me free, and I am thy slave for ever; with my arms in bonds, I could have escaped, but thou fetterest my heart—I will never forsake thee!"
preview | full record— Anonymous; Kotzebue (1761-1819)