Lips shut

Seen in Rome.

In Rome within the Sistine Chapel,
Covered over with Christian signs,
There is a scarletcolored casket
Where most ancient noses dry:

Noses of Thebaid ascetics,
Noses of Sangreal canons
In which livid night firmset is,
And the old sepulchral anthems.

Into their aridity mystical
Is introduced each morningtide
Some filthiness schismatical
Ground into a powder fine.

 

Arthur Rimbaud