It meets you on the central stairs-
Della Robbia's
life sized wreath
in glazed white porcelain.
Olive green leaves
decked with yellow pears,
frame Adam and Eve
deciding.
The serpent,
large as a python,
capable of swallowing them both,
winds herself round
the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The serpent's porcelain arms
twist invitingly,
hands offering
the shining fruit.
From one angle,
Eve looks interested;
Adam, somnolent,
the serpent, earnest.
Eve and the serpent
share twin blonde faces.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem