His form had yet not lost

All her original brightness, nor appear'd

Less than archangel ruin'd, and th' excess

Of glory obscur'd.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book i. Line 591.

If music be the food of love, play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.

That strain again! it had a dying fall:

O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound

That breathes upon a bank of violets,

Stealing and giving odour!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Twelfth Night. Act i. Sc. 1.

He pass'd the flaming bounds of place and time:

The living throne, the sapphire blaze,

Where angels tremble while they gaze,

He saw; but blasted with excess of light,

Closed his eyes in endless night.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): The Progress of Poesy. III. 2, Line 4.

Excess of wealth is cause of covetousness.

Christopher Marlowe (1565-1593): The Jew of Malta. Act i.

Sad fancies do we then affect,

In luxury of disrespect

To our own prodigal excess

Of too familiar happiness.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Ode to Lycoris.

To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,

To throw a perfume on the violet,

To smooth the ice, or add another hue

Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light

To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,

Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King John. Act iv. Sc. 2.