JOHN MILTON
That wash thy hallowd feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I visit: nor somtimes forget
Those other two equaPd with me in Fate,
So were I equal'd with them in renown.
Blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides,
And Tircsias and Phincus Prophets old.
Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move
Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird
Sings darkling, and in shadiest Covert hid
Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year
Seasons return, but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But cloud in stead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the chcarful waies of men
Cut off, and for the Book of knowlcdg fair
Presented with a Universal blanc
Of Natures works to mee expung'd and ras'd,
And wisdome at one entrance quite shut out.
So much the rather thou Celestial light
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight.
��552 (*) From 'Samson Agowstes*
how comely it is and how reviving To the Spirits of just men long opprest! When God into the hands of thir deliverer Puts invincible might
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