Ozymandias (Original)
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 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 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.”
The once-influential and quite possibly tyrannical leader of self-proclaimed royal descent known today only by the name Ozymandias
Tyler DeWacht
I once had a chance encounter with a travelling individual who began their journey from a location much farther than the farthest distance my travels as of yet have spanned.
That travelling individual had recalled his visions as thus – “plainly visible were two gigantic legs absent of a complete body, composed of relatively common yet breathtakingly massive rock-based building materials,
freestanding within a blisteringly hot desert environment… in the close vicinity of these upright lower limbs, visible from the surface of the sand,
was a partially concealed fragment of the statue’s head, more specifically that of the facial region, depicting upon it a frowning expression,
a lip with noticeable wrinkles, and the highly condescending stare of a very unsympathetic commander
which exposes the original sculptor’s craftsmanship in deciphering the subject’s raw emotions
to a visceral effect plainly evident even in this modern age,
and such features are impressed upon such a stony inanimate object
with a hand that derisively taunts the masses, as well as a heart that provides the necessary sustenance to continue life;
Additionally, on the broken statue’s foundation-like structure is engraved the following boastful statement:
‘It is by my will that you shall henceforth and forevermore refer to me as Ozymandias, as I am the male head of royalty to surpass all other male heads of royalty;
As you, and indeed even the mightiest of observers, gaze upon these projects I’ve designed, it’s certain for everyone to fall deeply into an unrelenting sense of despair from which it is impossible to escape!’
Alas, not a single one of these aforementioned projects have managed to successfully withstand the ultimate test of time. Surrounding this state of decay
in which this ruinous structure of gargantuan proportions rests with no clear ending nor physical possessions,
these solitary and relatively flat plains of sand extend far into the unseen distance.”
Tyler DeWriter 