Date: 1582

"So great a Light hath set my mind on fire, / That flesh and bone consume with secret flame"

— Watson, Thomas (1555/6-1592)

Date: 1726, 1753

"As fire, by nature, climbs direct, and bright, / And beams, in spotless rays, a shining light; / But if some gross obstruction stops its way, / Smokes in low curls, and scents the sullied day: / So love, itself, untainted, and refin'd, / Borrows a tincture, from the colour'd mind."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1726, 1753

"Excited, thus, the smother'd fire, at length, / Bursts into blaze, and burns, with open strength: / That image, which, before, but sooth'd the mind, / Now lords it there, and rages, unconfined"

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1726, 1753

"But I have err'd; and, with delirious aim, / Would picture motion, and imprison flame. / He, who can light'ning's flash, to colours, bind, / May paint love's influence, on the burning mind."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)

Date: 1801

The mind's fires may be doubled

— Cowper, William (1731-1800)