Before Time, unbegotten, the Beginner dwelt unseen, willful of world-being, of time-passing:

No Earth below to receive,

No Sky above across which clouds might scud,

No bounding Sea to pound and heave,

No Heavens in which gods might wander by day and night,

No Air for living things to breathe,

No Vault in which stars might shine.

Over all lay Darkness, in which He—the Cause Uncaused—seethed.