Classic Poem

(After Felicien Rops)

Three fearful visions haunt a fainting soul:
Saint Anthony is tortured by a demon.
The crucifix assumes a sardonic role:
The Christ has lost the Cross to Satan's leman.
On either side of her the dark saint sees
The bones of God and Satan's triumphant stare.
The lusty harlot shows white ways to peace:
Stretched on the Cross, with fig-leaves in her hair.
Two winged death-heads come for the skeleton.
A sturdy bestial pig rises and burns.
Using the Book of Faith to stand upon,
Blind to the Dead, his stubborn passion yearns
For the living loving body tied on high:
And Anthony sees his life in that lewd eye.