Mount up, Madonnas, Madonnas,
Your teams-of-six, of six!
Your steeds hang hooves in the air
They wait, adozing, they wait!
Each chariot is painted tri-color,
Each team is of three coats:
The vault, the oak, the carrot!
Then stir the divine Madonnas,
the hundred horses start!
They spin like a vinyl record
The record that goes this:
Flash by the thoroughbreads!
The saddle lambrekins
The blazing colors of chariots
Flowery, decorative
In each, face-to-face,
Madonna and Madonna,
In her ageless pose remains
bent backwards bent backwards
--white horses
--chariot!
--black horses
--chariot!
--bay horses
--chariot!
Magnificat!
And they
In Leonardo's frowns
In the twists of Raphael
In rounded flames, in cages of ropes,
In the suburbs, on a Sunday.
Madonna and Madonna
Who knows which one's asleep
And which one is inspired
--a team-of-six
--and two!
--a team-of-six
--and two!
--a team-of-six
--the two!
What madness!
And then the carousel slows
Repeats the fading chorus
the fading cho-
Rapha
el Mado
nnas
donnas
sub
urban
sub
----
Mount up
the teams-of-six!
Miron Białoszewski, 1956
The poem is said to have been inspired by a carousel in a suburban fairground but combines elements of sacrum and profanum. The art song featured at the top emphasizes the former.