Okay, gang, take a deep breath. We'll get through this together. "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at St. Praxed's Church" is about… a bishop… who orders his tomb at St. Praxed's church. Still with us?
Yeah, as far as titles go, this one is not overly complicated. The title basically lets us know that we're going to be reading about a bishop who's making preparations for his afterlife, which is precisely what the poem delivers. We just have one detail to work through, really: St. Praxed's church. This is actually a real place, only the locals in Rome call it Chiesa di Santa Prassede. It was built in the ninth century and named after Santa Prassede, or Saint Praxedes in English. "St. Praxed" is her abbreviated name.
In life, St. Praxedes was a Roman woman who helped Christians when they were being persecuted for their faith by the emperor. The building itself is a pretty appropriate backdrop for this poem, sporting lots of lavish decoration. We say more about that over in "Setting," so click away.