And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples th' upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread, Dove-like, sat'st brooding on the vast Abyss, And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark, Illumine; what is low, raise and support; That, to the highth of this great argument, I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men. (PARADISE LOST, BOOK I.) |