Quotation by Shakespeare

Merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose!
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), British dramatist, poet. Banquo, in Macbeth, act 2, sc. 1, l. 7-9.

"Powers" may refer to the order of angels deputed to resist demons; the orders are listed in John Milton's Paradise Lost, V. 601, as "Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers."
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