Three lines from "Marginalia" by W.H. Auden

[Rafael Shusterovich]

Hello,

These days I am translating "Marginalia" by W.H. Auden to Russian. The
entire work (parts I-V) is already done except of three lines form part III:

. . .
On their stage swords, horses
were sacred persons, the poor
farting bumpkins.
. . .

I have real troubles understanding the exact meaning of two first lines of
this stanza. Neither of possible versions is convincing.

Any help is much appreciated.
Rafael

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