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Quote#Speech

The oracles are dumb

Quote byJohn Milton · 1608–1674

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: On the Morning of Christ's Nativity (1629), Hymn, stanza 19, line 173.

English (original)

The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving. Apollo from his shrine Can no more divine, With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving. No nightly trance or breathed spell Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell.

— John Milton

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