Ozymandius

By one of my favorite poets, a timeless tale of human presumption, and a reminder that our grandest efforts may be subject to a different view by those who follow us. Something to ponder about our mortality as we travel through ... The Twilight Zone.

Ozymandius

by: Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveler 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 Ozymandius, 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.

Comments

[Mary]

What an unusual poem of agression, despair, and triumph. All of the emotions in one poem. I am hoping against hope that this does not describe our political year, our personal year, nor our year in global catastrophies. I am intuiting at this moment that the vast wasteland of sand and sneer, does in fact describe the coming year.

[J. Sue Gagliardi]

Robert, after reading this poem, I felt an "ah hah, life is just!" It reminded me of the French version of a song, Autumn Leaves, which has a line:

"...and the sea washes out in the sand
the footsteps of those who have loved."

That concept always made me sad. But, thank goodness all is washed away; clean slate, except for karma carryover, each lifetime.

[Elizabeth]

Well said this morning...

I feel wrinkled, cold, and lifeless, beaten down to despair by the lousy work of child protective services here in Baltimore. Ugh Robert, when will the sun shine again?

More specifically, will the eclipse of Feb 6 wash away some of this wretched irrationality?

Elizabeth

[The Good Sourceress]

What legacy shall ye leave to the world?

Towers of glass and stone,
Or the eternal gift of a love full-grown.

[Valerie]

Just goes to show,
All things must pass! :)

[Jilly]

Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.

[Felita]

Dear Robert and others I mulled this poem above through my head over and over , true yet lends itself not to hope. It may be that Venus is working well for me today?
TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES.THE PAST IS A REMNANT OF NOW YET DISSOLVING BEHIND.MAY LEVEL SANDS SUPPORT US AND LONE SANDS BUILD TO A DUNE OF UNITY STRETCHING TO INFINITY. This made me happy. Stay bright, Aum shanti Felita

[Robert]

Hi Mary - This poem always intrigued me, for just the reasons you list. And it always gave me perspective that those lesser ego-minds that have an inflated sense of self-importance will someday be "dust in the wind."

Hi J. Sue - The sense of time passing can bring sadness, but also humility and a focus on what's really important, which is to learn how to give and receive love. The clean slate is in fact a great blessing, since we don't have to hold on to things and attitudes no longer useful in our evolution.

Hi Elizabeth - Well, some days are grayer than others. The eclipse should help us all in some great ways, given the aspects at work, even though long haul there is much in the present dysfunctional systems that must pass away so better ways can be attempted. The eclipse won't wash away the irrationality, but it can bring us a greater appreciation for what needs appreciating.

Hi Good Sourceress - Great verse! (Now if only the bankers could grasp the concept!)

Hi Valerie - Yes, I suppose that is why this stuck with me all these years.

Hi Jilly - Always love Shakespeare! Perhaps the coming eclipse can lead us into sea changes that make us all richer, and maybe stranger!

Hi Felita - While Shelley's verse may bring melancholy, it also brings hope that even though the powerful may rule today, tomorrow is given to the ages. The sands of time are what unites us as well as that which endures despite the worst efforts of tyrants to enslave all they see. "A DUNE OF UNITY STRETCHING TO INFINITY" indeed! The desert is an ocean of space, just as is cosmos!