For Robert Fitzgerald
Robert, how pleasantly tempting to surmise,
As Auden half suspected,
That heaven and the benign Italian skies
Are intimately connected;
And once there we shall truly be translated
In grand operatic style
And bella figura flourish, who are fated
To tarry here the while.
Amid hill towns and palaces where dwell
The blessed of heaven’s see,
They shall address you as Signor Freeztjell
Me, Signor Hecate.
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