Blast from the Past today - I heard a snippet from this poem "Ozymandius" and found myself reciting it from beginning to end. I learnt this poem in 1979 at school. I used to dream about this poem and the place and time it referred to. I was always fascinated with this "Ozymandius" character, how powerful he was, and that his power declined and memory vanished with time. Apparently, Ozymandias had another name, Ramesses the Great, Pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt.
I always wanted to travel to the "antique land" in the desert and see similar things. Maybe I will one day. My very good friend J, lives in these parts, however, the area is too volatile to take children there.
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)Ozymandias
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.'
No comments:
Post a Comment