Reflections on God and Religion

No mortal yet has been granted the charter
To behold God directly once, and live.
We must, then, look at Him from behind, where He steps,
If this grace befalls us. Whoever wishes to avoid disaster, let him measure
His own incapacity, before he ventures to dare.
How many have plunged into the sand through reckless delight!
The Godhead suffers no mockery from any proud endeavor.
Let one speak humbly, or remain silent and worship Her. In 17th-century Dutch, "Godtheit" (Godhead) is a feminine noun; Vondel follows this grammatical gender here, though he refers to the person of God as masculine elsewhere.

If an atheist ongodist: a 17th-century term for one who denies God or lives as if God does not exist is to serve and honor God,
It first behooves us to strengthen and prove with reason
That God exists in essence, and this name signifies no dream—
God is not a hollow invention, painted by the sound of speech,
But is reckoned as a substance, a Being,
Just as one denotes a tree with the name of "tree."
One must then know what the name of God reveals to us
In our own language, as established by every nation—
Not in vain, but chosen with sharp judgment,
To represent either the working of this Being,
Or something that explains His nature and properties.
In Dutch, this name springs from "good," and signifies a good nature,
The origin of all good, flowing from that richness;
A name so beautiful that we yield to no other tongues
In its meaning, since it awakens the heart,
And by that sound alone draws souls toward itself,
Just as mercury original: "quickzilver." Vondel uses the alchemical belief that mercury is naturally attracted to gold. is drawn from gold toward gold,
The noblest metal in virtue and in capacity,
Weight, and duration, and power, and luster, and majesty,
The very imprint of God's worth, and honor, and glory.

The Dutchman is thus accustomed to containing the richest treasure of treasures,
Like other nations, in four letters,
And calling GOD that which no sign or sound
Has ever fully depicted. The infant sucks this
From the milk-fountain, the breast of its faithful mother.
This is sharpened by the nurse, and the father, guardian, and keeper.