Of every tree that in the garden grows Eat freely with glad heart; fear here no dearth. But of the Tree whose operation brings Knowledge of good and ill, which I have set, The pledge of thy obedience and thy faith, Amid the garden by the Tree of Life, Remember what I warn thee, shun to taste, And shun the bitter consequence: for know, The day thou eat’st thereof, my sole command Transgressed, inevitably thou shalt die, From that day mortal, and this happy state Shalt lose, expelled from hence into a world Of woe and sorrow.’ Sternly he pronounced The rigid interdiction, which resounds Yet dreadful in mine ear, though in my choice Not to incur; but soon his clear aspect Returned, and gracious purpose thus renewed: ‘Not only these fair bounds, but all the Earth To thee and to thy race I give; as lords Possess it, and all things that therein live, Or live in sea or air⁠—beast, fish, and fowl. In sign whereof, each bird, and beast behold After their kinds; I bring them to receive From thee their names, and pay thee fealty