Date: 1755, 1773

"All the empire I had wanted / Then had been my shepherd's heart."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: w. 1737-1742, published 1755, 1764, 1773

"And the more I with study my fancy refin'd, / The deeper impression she made on my mind."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"But thou, my friend! while in thy youthful soul / Love's gentle tyrant seats his aweful throne, / Write from thy bosom--let not art controul / The ready pen, that makes his edicts known."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"But 'tis not Gomez, 'tis not he whose heart / Is crusted o'er with dross, whose callous mind / Is senseless as his gold."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"Restore thy dear idea to my breast, / The rich deposit shall the shrine secure."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"Beyond the frantic rage / Of conq'ring heroes brave, the female mind, / When steel'd by love, in love's most horrid way / Beholds not danger, or beholding scorns"

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"Heav'n search my soul, and if thro' all its cells / Lurk the pernicious drop of pois'nous guile; / Full on my fenceless head its phial'd wrath / May fate exhaust"

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"In cloister'd state let selfish sages dwell, / Proud that their heart is narrow as their cell!"

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"Such is my theme, which means to prove, / That tho' we drink, or game, or love, / As that or this is most in fashion, / Precedence is our ruling passion."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)

Date: 1764, 1773

"And souls, however mean or vile, / Like features, brighten by a smile."

— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)