Classic Poem

C ALIXTUS Pope we on the pommel read.
The keys, tiara, boat and fish-net bear
Their rich reliefs upon the sword's guard where
Emblazoned glows the ox of Borgian breed;

Within the fusil laughs, mid coral seed
By ivy twined, Faun or Priapus fair,
Till raised to splendor by the enamel there,
The rapier's more for wonder than for need.

Antonio Perez de Las Cellas planned
This pastoral staff for the first Borgia's hand,
As though his famous brood he had foretold;

And better far than Ariosto's phrase,
Or Sannazar's, this steel, with hilt of gold,
Pope Alexander and the Prince portrays.