Hail holy light, ofspring of Heav'n first-born,
  Or of th' Eternal Coeternal beam
  May I express thee unblam'd? since God is light,
  And never but in unapproached light
  Dwelt from Eternitie, dwelt then in thee,
  Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
  Or hear'st thou rather pure Ethereal stream,
  Whose Fountain who shall tell? before the Sun,
  Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice
  Of God, as with a Mantle¹ didst invest
  The rising world of waters dark and deep,
  Won from the void and formless infinite.
  Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing,
  Escap't the STYGIAN Pool, though long detain'd
  In that obscure sojourn², while in my flight
  Through utter and through middle darkness borne
  With other notes then to th' ORPHEAN Lyre
  I sung of CHAOS⁴ and ETERNAL NIGHT,
  Taught by the heav'nly Muse⁵ to venture down
  The dark descent, and up to reascend,
  Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe,
  And feel thy sovran vital Lamp; but thou
  Revisit'st not these eyes, that rowle in vain
  To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
  So thick a drop serene⁶ hath quencht thir Orbs⁷,
  Or dim suffusion⁸ veild. Yet not the more
  Cease I to wander where the Muses⁹ haunt
  Cleer Spring, or shadie Grove¹⁰, or Sunnie Hill,
  Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief
  Thee SION and the flowrie

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