Date: c. 458 BC

"And unless one fate ordained of the gods restrains another fate from winning the advantage, my heart would outstrip my tongue and pour forth its fears; but, as it is, it mutters only in the dark, distressed and hopeless ever to unravel anything in time when my soul's aflame."

— Aeschylus (c. 525/524 BC-c. 456/455)

Date: w. 1592-3 or 1595?, 1623

"I cannot weep, for all my body's moisture / Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart; / Nor can my tongue unload my heart's great burden, / For selfsame wind that I should speak withal / Is kindling coals that fires all my breast, / And burns me up with flames that tears would quench."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1598

"And our supplies live largely in the hope / Of great Northumberland, whose bosom burns / With an incensèd fire of injuries."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1682

"Judge then what my Heart Feels, who, like a fire but lightly cover'd o're with the cold Ashes of Despair, with the least blast, breaks out into a flame."

— Behn, Aphra (1640?-1689)

Date: 1685

The "Amorous fire inkindled in my brest" receives little nourishment "By giving me your hand and denying me the rest"

— Anonymous; Corneille (1606-1684)

Date: 1696

"Mine Eyes no sooner saw, but my Heart was in a Flame, it heaves, it beats, it trembles, I'm all over Pulse, and in a perfect Agony."

— Anonymous; George Powell (1658-1714), Publisher

Date: 1696

"Oh my Dear Saint, didst thou but know the secret Flames within my Breast do glow, you would not be so cruel, so hard hearted."

— Anonymous; George Powell (1658-1714), Publisher

Date: 1696

"Odsheart, she longs to see thee, and she is a curious fine Creature, ye Rogue! such Eyes! such Lips!--and such a Tongue between 'em! ah, the Tip of it will set a Mans Soul on fire!"

— Cibber, Colley (1671-1757)

Date: 1696

"No! my very Soul's on fire, and nothing but the Villain's blood shall quench it."

— Cibber, Colley (1671-1757)

Date: 1696

"Hark! how the Warlike Notes inspire / In ev'ry Breast a glowing Fire."

— Cibber, Colley (1671-1757)