Date: 1674

"What then can remain to cause this dire war daily observed within us, betwixt the allurements of our Sense, on one side, and the grave dictates of our Mind, on the other; but two distinct Agents, the Rational Soul and the Sensitive, coexistent within us, and hotly contending about the conduct of...

— Charleton, Walter (1620-1707)

Date: 1680

"O, 'tis confess'd; / And howsoe're my Tongue has plaid the Braggart, / She Reigns more fully in my Soul than ever: / She Garrisons my Breast, and Mans against me / Even my own Rebel thoughts, with thousand Graces, / Ten thousand Charms, and new discover'd Beauties."

— Lee, Nathaniel (1653-1692)

Date: 1682

"We are carry'd Up to the Heavens, and Down again into the Deep, by Turns; so long as we are govern'd by our Affections, and not by Virtue: Passion, and Reason, are a kind of Civil War within us; and as the one, or the other has Dominion, we are either Good, or Bad."

— L'Estrange, Sir Roger (1616-1704)

Date: 1686

"But now Within there's Civil War, / In Arms my rebel Passions are, / Their old Allegiance laid aside"

— Flatman, Thomas (1635-1688)

Date: 1687

"So crowds of anxious Thoughts on ev'ry side, / Invade my Soul."

— Ayres, Philip (1638-1712)

Date: 1687

"The wing'd Battalions from her lovely face / Flew to the Breach, and, rushing in apace, / Did quickly make her Mistress of the place [the heart]."

— Cutts, John, Baron Cutts of Gowran (1660/1-1707)

Date: 1691

"First, for Use; So we see the Senses of such eminent Use for our well-being, situate in the Head, as Sentinels in a Watch-Tower, to receive and conveigh to the Soul the impressions of external Objects"

— Ray [formerly Wray], John (1627–1705)

Date: 1691

"Since then Effluviums from all Objects break, / And thrô the Air their unseen Journeys take, / To every Sense in various Measures come; / How is it that the crowding Troops find room? / Numberless Numbers to each Sense repair, / That various Motions, Forms, and Garbs do wear; / Enough to stifle ...

— Heyrick, Thomas (bap. 1649. d. 1694)

Date: Licens'd Decemb. 22. 1691

"The Ladies Hearts, particularly the Incognita and Leonora's, beat time to the Horses Hoofs, and hope and fear made a mock Fight within their tender Breasts, each wishing and doubting success where she lik'd."

— Congreve, William (1670-1729)

Date: 1696

"'Twas not with ease the Usurper got Possession here (went she on; pointing to her Heart) nor will he be with ease dislodg'd. All the Sighs and Tears it cost Emilius to gain this Virgin Heart, to bind it in the Inchanting Chains of Tyrannick Love; I must, with Interest, pay back, e'er I can set t...

— Pix, Mary (c.1666-1720)