Date: 1594

"For men haue marble, women waxen mindes / And therefore are they form'd as marble will, / The weake opprest, th'impression of strange kindes / Is form'd in them by force, by fraud, or skill."

— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Date: 1647

"False Coin with which th'Impostor cheats us still; / The Stamp and Colour good, but Metal ill!"

— Cowley, Abraham (1618-1667)

Date: 1667

"So are those minds that Gold admire do, / Barren, and haunted by the Devil too."

— Billingsley, Nicholas (bap. 1633, d. 1709)

Date: 1689

And yet there is, there is one prize / Lock'd in an adamantine Breast; / Storm that then, Love, if thou be'st wise, / A Conquest above all the rest, / Her Heart, who binds all Hearts in chains, / Castanna's Heart untouch'd remains."

— Cotton, Charles (1630-1687)

Date: 1693

"Yet, thy moist Clay is pliant to Command; / Unwrought, and easie to the Potter's hand: / Now take the Mold; now bend thy Mind to feel / The first sharp Motions of the Forming Wheel."

— Dryden, John (1631-1700)

Date: 1697

"As fire this figure hardens, made of clay, / And this of wax with fire consumes away; / Such let the soul of cruel Daphnis be--"

— Dryden, John (1631-1700); Virgil (70 B.C. - 19 B.C.)

Date: 1697

"At such Reflections do's not Nature start, / And try at every Spring to touch your Heart? / Do's not soft Pity's fire begin to burn, / Do not your yearning Bowels in you turn? / In such a case Breasts arm'd with temper'd Steel / And Hearts of Marble, should impression feel."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1697

"Lord, strike this Marble Heart, thy powerful Stroke / Will make a Flood gush from the cleaving Rock. / O draw all Nature's Sluces up, and drain / Her Magazines, which liquid Stores contain."

— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)

Date: 1699

"Love then, that sweet procession of the Mind, / Was from all Dross, and Earthly Dreggs refin'd."

— Pomfret, John (1667-1702)

Date: 1703

"The true, substantial Wealth is lodg'd within; / 'Tis there the brightest Gems are found: / Such as wou'd great and glorious Treasures win, Treasures which theirs for ever will remain, / Must Piety and Wisdom strive to gain."

— Chudleigh [née Lee], Mary, Lady Chudleigh (bap. 1656, d. 1710)