Date: 1597

"My bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne, / And all this day an unaccustomed spirit / Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1680

"O, 'tis confess'd; / And howsoe're my Tongue has plaid the Braggart, / She Reigns more fully in my Soul than ever: / She Garrisons my Breast, and Mans against me / Even my own Rebel thoughts, with thousand Graces, / Ten thousand Charms, and new discover'd Beauties."

— Lee, Nathaniel (1653-1692)

Date: 1701

"My Reason's conquer'd by more powerful Love, / Who rules as Tyrant in my captiv'd Breast."

— Sherburne, Sir Edward (bap. 1616, d. 1702)

Date: 1715

"Love is a generous Volunteer; Lust a Mercenary Slave"

— Johnson, Charles (1679?-1748)

Date: 1717

"Against my self my rebel Passions arm; / They bound within my Breast to meet this Victor."

— Manley, Delarivier (c. 1670-1724)

Date: February 22, 1723

"If a single thought / Were tinctur'd with disloyalty, this hand / Shou'd pierce my heart to drive the rebel out."

— Fenton, Elijah (1683-1730)

Date: 1761

"Does Conscience, that just Judge, confirm my sentence? / There I am clear."

— Cumberland, Richard (1732-1811)

Date: 1776

"Oh! jealousy, / Thou tyrant of the mind."

— Dibdin, Charles (bap. 1745, d. 1814)

Date: 1820

"Yet am I king over myself, and rule / The torturing and conflicting throngs within, / As Jove rules you when Hell grows mutinous."

— Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822)