Just wanted to mention that this blog has reached the six month mark! Woo hoo!
On the subject of time, in the annals of literature in the English language, few masterworks are as eloquent or as memorable as the sonnet Ozymandias by the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley:
Although perhaps overshadowed in the minds of modern audiences by his second wife Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, Percy Bysshe Shelley is considered one of the greatest lyric poets of all time, despite his tragic death in a boating accident before his 30th birthday. And he shows why in Ozymandias.
In a friendly competition with Horace Smith, a member of Shelley's literary circle, both men produced poems named Ozymandias about Ramesses II, widely regarded as the greatest and most celebrated of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, (Ramesses II is called Ozymandias in the Hellenic sources, from a transliteration into Greek of a part of his throne name), with both works using the same theme and story. However, the character in the all-time great graphic novel Watchmen is named in reference to only one of these.
Written in loose iambic pentameter, Ozymandias explores the theme of monumental ambition struggling with and ultimately laid low by the relentless ravages of time. Full of wry and ironic humor yet still simultaneously poignant, Shelley also uses vivid imagery to capture the imagination:
With such wonderfully evocative language, it is hardly surprising that Ozymandias, unlike the subject of the poem, has ironically become a timeless classic, inspiring and referenced in everything from music to video games. Here is a wonderful reading of the poem by Bryan Cranston, in a trailer for "Ozymandias", the third to last episode of Breaking Bad:
In only 14 lines, Percy Bysshe Shelley creates a work for the ages. If you've got a minute, take a look. If you've got a few more, it's a fun and worthwhile exercise to think on its multiple meanings.
On the subject of time, in the annals of literature in the English language, few masterworks are as eloquent or as memorable as the sonnet Ozymandias by the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley:
 |
| Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! |
Although perhaps overshadowed in the minds of modern audiences by his second wife Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, Percy Bysshe Shelley is considered one of the greatest lyric poets of all time, despite his tragic death in a boating accident before his 30th birthday. And he shows why in Ozymandias.
In a friendly competition with Horace Smith, a member of Shelley's literary circle, both men produced poems named Ozymandias about Ramesses II, widely regarded as the greatest and most celebrated of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, (Ramesses II is called Ozymandias in the Hellenic sources, from a transliteration into Greek of a part of his throne name), with both works using the same theme and story. However, the character in the all-time great graphic novel Watchmen is named in reference to only one of these.
Written in loose iambic pentameter, Ozymandias explores the theme of monumental ambition struggling with and ultimately laid low by the relentless ravages of time. Full of wry and ironic humor yet still simultaneously poignant, Shelley also uses vivid imagery to capture the imagination:
Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand 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 readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things
With such wonderfully evocative language, it is hardly surprising that Ozymandias, unlike the subject of the poem, has ironically become a timeless classic, inspiring and referenced in everything from music to video games. Here is a wonderful reading of the poem by Bryan Cranston, in a trailer for "Ozymandias", the third to last episode of Breaking Bad:
In only 14 lines, Percy Bysshe Shelley creates a work for the ages. If you've got a minute, take a look. If you've got a few more, it's a fun and worthwhile exercise to think on its multiple meanings.
SC's Parting Shot: 10 of 10
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