Date: 1706

"Ah, my Life's dear Guardian, methinks now you are here, my Heart has Warmth again, and active Motion which, lately like a worn-out Clock, had none."

— D'Urfey, Thomas (1653?-1723)

Date: 1714

"Have you examin'd / Into your inmost Heart, and try'd at leisure / The several secret Springs that move the Passions? / Has Mercy fix'd her Empire there so sure, / That Wrath and Vengeance never may return?"

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)

Date: 1757

"I only told him civilly, Past three o'clock and a cloudy morning!-- [...] --when, heyday! says he, (there he stands, let 'en deny it if he can) and coming up to me--what have we here?-- a human Clock!--a very odd kind of Repeater upon my soul!--one of the hours 'egad strolling about, in a...

— Bacon, Phanuel (1700-1783)

Date: 1766

"My dear Louisa, your watch and your passions keep pace; it wants some minutes of seven; but I cou'd wish from my heart, that almost any accident might prevent this meeting"

— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)