Wonders are many on earth and the greatest of these

Is man, who rides the ocean and takes his way

Through the deeps, through the wind-swept valleys of perilous seas

That surge and sway.

He is master of ageless Earth, to his own will bending

The immortal mother of gods by the sweat of his brow,

As year succeeds to year with toil unending

Of mule and plough.

He is lord of all things living: birds of the air,

Beasts of the field, all creatures of sea and land

He taketh, cunning to capture and ensnare

With sleight of hand;

Hunting the savage beast from the upland rocks,

Taming the mountain monarch in his lair,

Teaching the wild horse and the roaming ox

His yoke to bear.

The use of language, the wind-swift motion of brain

He learnt; found out the laws of living together

In cities, building him shelter against the rain

And wintry weather.

There is nothing beyond his power. His subtlety

Meeteth all chance, all danger conquereth.

For every ill he hath found its remedy,

Save only death.

FROM SOPHOCLES’ ANTIGONE

TRANSLATED BY E. F. WATLING