Date: 1724
"Those Reflections began to prey upon my Comforts, and lessen the Sweets of my other Enjoyments: They might be said to have gnaw'd a Hole in my Heart before; but now they made a Hole quite thro' it; now they eat into all my pleasant things; made bitter every Sweet, and mix'd my Sighs with every S...
preview | full record— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)
Date: 1741 [1740]; continued in 1741
"Don't your Heart ake for me? --I am sure mine flutter'd about like a Bird in a Cage new caught."
preview | full record— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)
Date: 1751
"Tears gushing again, my heart fluttering as a bird against its wires; drying my eyes again and again to no purpose."
preview | full record— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)
Date: 1759
"This [her own Mind] being haunted with Ghosts, dejected with an unaccountable Melancholy, and afflicted with a Variety of Distempers, tho' we are at a Loss to discover what Appellation to give them, is very often the Result of nothing more than a strong Imagination unimployed, which could be all...
preview | full record— Fielding, Sarah (1710-1768)
Date: 1788
"Pensive, yet always kind; melancholy, and at times visibly unhappy; yet ever gentle, considerate, and attentive to me; always ready to blame himself for yielding to that despondence which he cannot without an effort conquer; trying to alleviate the anguish of my mind by subduing that which frequ...
preview | full record— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)