Date: 1767

"How transitory have been all my pleasures! the recollection of them dies on my memory, like the departing colours of the rainbow, which fades under the eye of the beholder, and leaves not a trace behind."

— Sheridan [née Chamberlaine], Frances (1724-1766)

Date: 1781

"All that my SHAKESPEARE's energy exprest, / Shone in his fancy's mirror finely drest!"

— Kilner, Dorothy (1755-1836) [attributed to]

Date: 1786

"There was a time when my feelings gave the lie to their assertions; and holding the mirror of fancy before my eyes, shew'd me the future, in the happy present."

— Lee, Harriet (1757/8-1851)

Date: 1788

"She had a metaphysical turn, which inclined her to reflect on every object that passed by her; and her mind was not like a mirror, which receives every floating image, but does not retain them: she had not any prejudices, for every opinion was examined before it was adopted."

— Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797)