Date: 1744

"Eternity's vast ocean lies before thee; / There, there, Lorenzo, thy Clarissa sails. / Give thy mind sea-room; keep it wide of earth, / That rock of souls immortal; cut thy cord; / Weigh anchor; spread thy sails; call every wind; / Eye thy great Pole-star; make the land of life."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Date: 1760-7

"But here, you must distinguish--the thought floated only in Dr. Slop's mind, without sail or ballast to it, as a simple proposition; millions of which, as your worship knows, are every day swiming quietly in the middle of the thin juice of a man's understanding, without being carried backwards o...

— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)

Date: 1765

""Unwise, who, tossing on the watery way, / All to the storm th'unfetter'd sail devolve; / Man more unwise resigns the mental sway, / Born headlong on by passion's keen resolve."

— Beattie, James (1735-1803)

Date: 1766

"Should you but discompose the tide, / On which Ideas wont to ride, / Ferment it with a yeasty Storm, / Or with high Floods of Wine deform."

— Lloyd, Evan (1734-1776)