Thursday 16 December 2010

A Bit of Poetry

I'm reading about Egypt at the moment and it's reminded me of one of my favourite poems.  I don't read much poetry in general, but when I find a poem I like it really stays with me.


Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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 these 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.

5 comments:

  1. That's really beautiful and haunting. I love Egypt and somehow that poem fits the country so well.

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  2. @Mel
    That's exactly how I felt about it too. I'm glad someone else had the same reaction as me.

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  3. Oh, oh, ooooh my god Sam. I love you. I had to do an in-depth essay for Ozymandias in my English 1B class and I absolutely fell in love with it. In love with all of Shelley's work (well, most of it :P), actually! Ozymandias was definitely my favorite. I won't bore you with my noobish interpretations, but I just wanted to let you know I love this poem, too. :)

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  4. @Kristina Barnes♥

    I love Shelley too, his poetry is really haunting and memorable. Definitely bore me with your interpretations, I'm interested!

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  5. Ozymandias is also one of my favorites... We had reading and analysis of this poem in college, and I enjoyed it... :) Still love it...

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