Mightier far

Than strength of nerve or sinew, or the sway

Of magic potent over sun and star,

Is Love, though oft to agony distrest,

And though his favorite seat be feeble woman's breast.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Laodamia.

Awake, my soul! stretch every nerve,

And press with vigour on;

A heavenly race demands thy zeal,

And an immortal crown.

Philip Doddridge (1702-1751): Zeal and Vigour in the Christian Race.

My fate cries out,

And makes each petty artery in this body

As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 4.

Then purg'd with euphrasy and rue

The visual nerve, for he had much to see.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book xi. Line 414.