Paradise Lost

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1stWorldLibrary.ORG - Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that
forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the World, and all our
woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the
blissful seat, Sing, Heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top Of Oreb, or of
Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed In the
beginning how the heavens and earth Rose out of Chaos: or, if Sion hill Delight
thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song, That with no middle flight intends to
soar Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose
or rhyme.

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 height of this great
argument, I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to
men.