Date: 1678
"The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of Grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts Water upon it, to extinguish and put it out, is the Devil."
preview | full record— Bunyan, John (bap. 1628, d. 1688)
Date: 1688
"I will be deaf and blind, and guard my Heart with Walls of Ice, and make you know, that when the Flames of true Devotion are kindled in a Heart, it puts out all other Fires; which are as ineffectual, as Candles lighted in the Face of the Sun."
preview | full record— Behn, Aphra (1640?-1689)
Date: 1691
"I was nothing but all Flame and Fire, and the red-hot Thoughts glared about my Brains at such a rate, and if visible, wou'd, I fancy, have made just such a dreadful Appearance as the Window of a Glass-house discovers in a dark Night--viz. a parcel of stragling fiery Globes marching about and hiz...
preview | full record— Dunton, John (1659–1732)
Date: 1695
"His high Design was with his Heav'nly Light, / To chase away th' Impenetrable Night, / That cover'd this lost World, and re-inspire / Man's frozen Breast with fresh Celestial Fire"
preview | full record— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Date: 1697
The soul may be a "Modification or Power of the Body" so that it eventually ceases to act, "either perishing, as a Flame when the Fewel is spent; or returning to its Fountain, whatsoever it was"
preview | full record— Burnet, Thomas (c.1635-1715)
Date: 1697
"Let Love's strong Flame by its Celestial Art / To fill my Eyes, dissolve and melt my Heart; / As Central Fire advances watry Steams / Which from the Mountains spring in Crystal Streams."
preview | full record— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Date: 1705
"Polish'd in Courts, and harden'd in the Field, / Renown'd for Conquest, and in Council skill'd, / Their Courage dwells not in a troubl'd Flood / Of mounting Spirits, and fermenting Blood; / Lodg'd in the Soul, with Virtue over-rul'd, / Inflam'd by Reason, and by Reason cool'd, / In Hours of Peac...
preview | full record— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Date: Monday, August 24. 1724
"Vast Sea of Ecstacy, that drowns the Mind! / That fierce Transfusion of exchanging Hearts! / That gliding Glimpse of Heav'n, in pulsive Starts? / That veiny Rush! That warm, tumultuous, Roll! / That Fire that kindles Bodies into Soul!"
preview | full record— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
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."
preview | full record— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Date: 1727
"It is without Doubt, that Fancy and Imagination form a world of Apparitions in the Minds of Men and Women; (for we must not exclude the Ladies in this Part, whatever we do) and People go away as thoroughly possess'd with the Reality of having seen the Devil, as if they convers'd Face to Face wit...
preview | full record— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)