Date: 1775

"Need we the influence of the northern star / To string our nerves and steel our hearts to war? "

— Gray, Thomas (1716-1771)

Date: 1786

"'While in his Breast he bears, to Fear unknown, / 'A rigid Heart of Iron or of Stone!"

— Polwhele, Richard (1760-1838); Moschus

Date: 1786

"With Iron Bosom, tho' the Beast he slew, / The Charms of melting Love Alcides knew!"

— Polwhele, Richard (1760-1838); Moschus

Date: 1786

Friendship " bade my stubborn Bosom feel, / And soften'd thus a Heart of Steel!"

— Polwhele, Richard (1760-1838); Moschus

Date: 1787

"For scenes that frequent shapes of Death impart / Arm the firm breast, and steel the manly heart"

— Pye, Henry James (1745-1813)

Date: 1803

"What though Astrea decks my soul in gold, / My mortal lumber trembles with the cold;"

— Chatterton, Thomas (1752-1770)

Date: 1803

"Sermons, though flowing from the sacred lawn, / Are flimsy wires from reason's ingot drawn."

— Chatterton, Thomas (1752-1770)

Date: 1817

"Not until my dream became / Like a child's legend on the tideless sand. / Which the first foam erases half, and half / Leaves legible"

— Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822)

Date: 1842

"For a shrewd intellect, the best employ / Is to detect a soul of base alloy;"

— Frere, John Hookham (1769-1846)

Date: 1842

None "can I find / No sterling unadulterated mind; / None that abides the crucible like mine"

— Frere, John Hookham (1769-1846)