July 30, 2013

Ozymandias^[1]
By: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817)

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless^[2] 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, 5
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive,^[3] stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them,^[4] and the heart that fed;^[5]
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: 10
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.”

notes and commentary

↑ The Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II was called Ozymandias by the Greeks. According to Diodorus Siculus, a first-century Greek historian, the following was written at the base of Ramses II statue—the largest in Egypt: “I am Ozymandias, King of kings. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass any of my works.”
↑ Having no torso.
↑ I.e., to outlive.
↑ The hand is that of the sculptor’s who mocked or imitated and perhaps made fun of the artist’s passions.
↑ A parallel of the first part of the line: the heart is the king’s which fed his passions.

[1] The Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II was called Ozymandias by the Greeks. According to Diodorus Siculus, a first-century Greek historian, the following was written at the base of Ramses II statue—the largest in Egypt: “I am Ozymandias, King of kings. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass any of my works.”

[2] Having no torso.

[3] I.e., to outlive.

[4] The hand is that of the sculptor’s who mocked or imitated and perhaps made fun of the artist’s passions.

[5] A parallel of the first part of the line: the heart is the king’s which fed his passions.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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