Date: 1786

"So o'er my soul short rays of reason fly, / Then fade:--and leave me, to despair and die!"

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1786

"But when thy envied sanction crowns my lays, / A ray of pleasure lights my languid mind, / For well I know the value of thy praise."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1797

"May the soft rays of dawning hope impart / Reviving Patience to my fainting heart."

— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)

Date: 1799

"Come, bright IMAGINATION, come! relume / Thy orient lamp; with recompensing ray / Shine on the Mind, and pierce its gathering gloom / With all the fires of intellectual Day!"

— Seward, Anna (1742-1809)

Date: 1807

"Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart."

— Wordsworth, William (1770-1850)