Date: From Thursd. April 6. to Saturd. April 8. 1710
"It [the light of Elysium] pierces the thickest Bodies, in the same Manner as the Sun Beams pass through Chrystal: It strengthens the Sight instead of dazzling it; and nourishes in the most inward Recesses of the Mind, a perpetual Serenity that is not to be express'd."
preview | full record— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Date: 1715
"Thy Virtues flash, / They break at once on my astonish'd Soul; / As if the Curtains of the Dark were drawn, / To let in Day at Midnight."
preview | full record— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)
Date: 1717, 1736
"Dim lights of life that burn a length of years, / Useless, unseen, as lamps in sepulchres"
preview | full record— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Date: Friday, July 31, 1724
"The true Use of Titles, is, That they may serve, as shining Lights, to lay open and illustrate, the spacious Chambers of a Mind well-furnished."
preview | full record— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Date: Friday, July 31, 1724
"But, to a close, and sordid, Soul, they are like Torches, which we carry down, to illuminate a sickly Dungeon: Where they expose, but the more disgracefully, the narrow Cells, bare Walls; and Dirtiness."
preview | full record— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Date: 1734, 1753
"Were it a crime in flashing souls, to rise, / And strike each other thro' the meeting eyes; / Those op'ning windows had not let in light, / Nor stream'd ideas out, to voice the sight."
preview | full record— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Date: 1742
"From dreams, where Thought in Fancy's maze runs mad, / To reason, that heaven-lighted lamp in man, / Once more I wake; and at the destined hour, / Punctual as lovers to the moment sworn, / I keep my assignation with my woe."
preview | full record— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Date: w. 1740, 1748
"Thirsting for Knowledge, but to know the right, / Thro' judgment's optick guide th' illusive sight, / To let in rays on Reason's darkling cell, / And Prejudice's lagging mists dispel."
preview | full record— Walpole, Horatio [Horace], fourth earl of Orford (1717-1797)
Date: 1782
"What Addison has said of the Ways of Heaven, may with much more propriety & accuracy be applied to the the 'Mind of Man which indeed, is Dark & Intricate, Filled with wild Mazes, & perplexed with Error.''"
preview | full record— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)
Date: 1785
"Unwelcome is the first bright dawn of light / To the dark soul; impatient, she rejects, / And fain would push the heavenly stranger back; / She loathes the cranny which admits the day; / Confused, afraid of the intruding guest; / Disturbed, unwilling to receive the beam, / Which to herself her n...
preview | full record— Yearsley, Ann (bap. 1753, d. 1806)