Fox and Bust

--La Fontaine, IV, 14

Observe how Fox observes his universe,
How he examines each detail with care.
Suspecting that the way things are
Is not the way thev seem to be.
"Appearance," he says, "infrequently concurs
With reality.

"When they unveiled the bust
Of our late senator
Unmourning colleagues rendered accolades
That glorified his dust.
Extolling him as among the shades
Of those grand solons who came before,

"The Sculptor framed him better than he should:
A noble forehead, a searching gaze
That seemed to pierce one's soul,
Aquiline nose and resolute jaw...
In that hour his cohorts said
He was a guiding spirit of our days
In whom inhabited the ful!
True spirit of our laws.

"When they were gone, I approached the pedestal
To compare this mineral semblance
With that of my old acquaintance.
Sad to relate,
The nose was taken from Alexander the Great,
As rendered by Apelles;
Those searching eyes
From Pericles:
The forehead belonged to Hadrian;
And Caesar's, that determined chin.
The only part I'd name his own-
The brain of stone.

"I wondered as I exited the hall
Where similar busts lined every wall,
Were they like him, each one and all?
And so came out
Consumed with doubt,
Surmising that cold marble reveals
A great deal less than it conceals."