"Into this wild abyss
In the womb of nature and perhaps her grave,
Of neither sea, not shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mixed,
Confusedly, and thus which must ever fight,
Unless the almighty maker them ordain,
His dark materials, to create new worlds.
Into this wild abyss,
The wary fiend stood on the brink of hell, and watched a while,
Pondering his voyage..."
-John Milton, "Paradise Lost"