Apollion monologue (Act 1) — Vondel's Lucifer

Who would our state for that of man prefer, When one beholdeth beings, all-surpassing, Beneath whose sway all other beings stand! I saw a hundred thousand creatures move 100 Before me there: all they that tread the earth And they that cleave the clouds, or swim the stream, As is their wont, each in his element. Who should the nature and the attributes Of each one know as Adam! For 'twas he That gave them, one by one, their various names. The mountain-lion wagged his tail and smiled Upon his lord. And, at his sovereign's feet, The tiger, too, his fierceness laid. The bull Bowed low his horns; the elephant, his trunk. 110 The bear forgot his rage. The griffin heard His call; the eagle and the dragon dread, Behemoth and even great Leviathan. Nor shall I tell what praise rings in man's ears, Amid those warbling bowers, replete with songs in many tongues; while zephyrs rustle through The leaves, and brooks purl 'neath their sylvan banks A murmurous harmony that wearies never. Had but Apollion his mission then Accomplished, sooth, in Adam's Paradise 120 He soon had lost all memory of Heaven.