[identity profile] dferahgo.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] greatpoetry
Ozymandias of Egypt

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 shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd 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.

- P. B. Shelley

Date: 2004-03-31 04:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] losgringo.livejournal.com
The absolute greatest poem I've ever heard. Ranks up there with "Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan" in my books.

Date: 2004-03-31 04:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 22by7.livejournal.com
I never quite liked this one. Never been into Shelley, and I suppose having had to study it at school accounts for some of that, but... Hm, maybe a fresh look...

Date: 2004-03-31 06:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chefkatsuya.livejournal.com
Mmm, lovely.

Date: 2004-03-31 08:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] geology-rocks.livejournal.com
Yay! I love Ozymandias!

Date: 2004-03-31 11:05 pm (UTC)
ext_20950: (penguins wear tuxedos)
From: [identity profile] jacinthsong.livejournal.com
Excellent poem, indeed.

Date: 2004-04-01 04:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eightofseven.livejournal.com
I love this one! Thanks for posting it.

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