Sentence:  Thus, while the <WSD>mute</WSD> creation downward bend / Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend, / Man looks aloft; and with erected eyes / Beholds his own hereditary skies. / From such rude principles our form began; / And earth was metamorphos'd into Man. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Not having the power of speech; dumb. (from 15th c.)