I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: `My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away".
ojosazul, Ozymandias by Percy Shelley is a well known and interesting poem of the folly of man and pride. thanks for sharing.
FellsmanLake District, Cumbria, England UKJan 22, 2011
Good Guy is perceptive in describing this poem as "interesting". As a cautionary tale it is quite brilliant. Judged purely as a sonnet it is technically badly flawed, which is surprising from the pen which wrote "Ode to a skylark" (Hail to thee, blythe spirit).
Hi, ojosazul, Thanks for sharing Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem written in competition with his friend Horace Smith. We get to remember both Ramesses the Great and the poet whose vision stretched across the level sands.
Comments (3)
As a cautionary tale it is quite brilliant. Judged purely as a sonnet it is technically badly flawed, which is surprising from the pen which wrote "Ode to a skylark" (Hail to thee, blythe spirit).
Fellsman
Thanks for sharing Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem written in competition with his friend Horace Smith. We get to remember both Ramesses the Great and the poet whose vision stretched across the level sands.