A Briton even in love should be

A subject, not a slave!

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Ere with Cold Beads of Midnight Dew.

Underneath this sable hearse

Lies the subject of all verse,—

Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother.

Death, ere thou hast slain another,

Learn'd and fair and good as she,

Time shall throw a dart at thee.

Ben Jonson (1573-1637): Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke.

Well, honour is the subject of my story.

I cannot tell what you and other men

Think of this life; but, for my single self,

I had as lief not be as live to be

In awe of such a thing as I myself.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Julius Caesar. Act i. Sc. 2.

Such duty as the subject owes the prince,

Even such a woman oweth to her husband.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Taming of the Shrew. Act v. Sc. 2.

Unlike my subject now shall be my song;

It shall be witty, and it sha'n't be long.

Earl Of Chesterfield (1694-1773): Impromptu Lines.