Date: 1700

"They cannot, no; each sigh Love's flight sustains, / O'er my own Heart in my own Breast he Reigns, / And holds too strong, my strugling Soul in Chains."

— Hopkins, John (b. 1675)

Date: 1703

"Weary'd at last, curst Hymen's Aid I chose; / But find the fetter'd Soul has no Repose."

— Egerton [née Fyge; other married name Field], Sarah (1670-1723)

Date: 1682, 1683, 1709

"At length from Love's vile Slave'ry I am free, / And have regain'd my Ancient Liberty: / I've shook the Chains off which my Bondage wrought, / Am free as Air, and unconfin'd as Thought."

— Gould, Robert (b. 1660?, d. in or before 1709)

Date: 1719-1720, 1725

"You see, my Lord, said he with a Sigh, that I have put it out of her Power to triumph over my Weakness, for I confess my Heart still wears her Chains; but e'er my Eyes or Tongue betray to her the shameful Bondage, these Hands should tear them out."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)

Date: 1720

"You'll weep, I know you will; no Iron Chains / Confine thy Heart, thy Breast no Oak retains."

— Dart, John (d. 1730); Tibullus (c. 54-19 B.C.)

Date: 1760, 1850

Friendship is "The indissoluble tie that binds, / In equal chains, two sister minds."

— Hamilton, William, of Bangour (1704-1754)

Date: 1778

"Why, my sweet one, you are all power, all a goddess; and you hold my heart enslaved in the chains of immortal love."

— Robertson, James (fl.1768-1788)

Date: November 9, 1779

"Thus, conscience freed from ev'ry clog, / Mahometans eat up the hog."

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)

Date: February 17, 1786

"The bonds of Hymen o'er my mind, / My constant soul must ever bind."

— O'Keeffe, John (1747-1833)

Date: w. 1789, 1804

"Can Mammon's votaries vainly hope to bind, / In shining shackles, his immortal Mind?"

— Woodhouse, James (bap. 1735, d. 1820)