Date: 1712, 1715, 1719

The "mysterious Turnings of human Cogitations" compose "Labyrinths for Reason to lose her Way, unless conducted by the Line of Vertue"

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1712, 1715, 1719

"I was in this Labyrinth of Thoughts when one brought me a Letter from Exiilus"

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1713

"Away the Skilful Doctor comes / Of Recipes and Med'cines full, / To check the giddy Whirl of Nature's Fires, / If so th' unruly Case requires; / Or with his Cobweb-cleansing Brooms / To sweep and clear the over-crouded Scull, / If settl'd Spirits flag, and make the Patient dull."

— Finch [née], Anne, Countess of Winchilsea (1666-1720)

Date: 1715

"Nature to Man's Breast has made no Windows, / To show us what they act within Doors."

— Centlivre [née Freeman; other married name Carroll], Susanna (bap. 1669?, d. 1723)

Date: 1717

"I render back the Treasure of thy Heart: / When in some new fair Breast it finds a Room, And I shall lie neglected in my Tomb; / Remember, oh! remember, the fair She / Can never love thee, darling Youth! like me."

— Behn, Aphra (1640?-1689)

Date: 1720

"Large is my forehead made, not wond'rous fair, / But room enough for all the Muses there."

— Sansom, Martha [née Fowke] (1690-1736)

Date: 1721

"Her Mind well suited the fair Cabinet that contained it; she was humble, generous, unaffected, yet learned, wise, modest, and prudent above her Years or Sex; gay in Conversation, but by Nature thoughtful; had all the Softness of a Woman, with the Constancy and Courage of a Hero: In fine, her Sou...

— Aubin, Penelope (1679?-1731?)

Date: 1723

In one's Garret-Closet one's Muse may "take Possession": "Poetry being one of those subtle Devils, that if driven out by never so many firm Purposes, good Resolutions, Aversion to that Poverty it intails upon its Adherents; yet it will always return and find a Passage to the Heart, Brain, ...

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1723

"Mine [heart] open lies, without the least Defence; / No Guard of Art; but its own Innocence; / Under which Fort it could fierce Storms endure: / But from thy Wit I find no Fort secure."

— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)

Date: 1723, 1725

"Reflection was unhing'd; the noble Seat of Memory fill'd with Chimera's and disjointed Notions; wild and confus'd Ideas whirl'd in his distracted Brain; and all the Man, except the Form, was changed."

— Haywood [née Fowler], Eliza (1693?-1756)