David Meyer on Nostr: I'm not too knowledgable about poetry, but "Ozymandias " by Percy Bysshe Shelley is ...

I'm not too knowledgable about poetry, but "Ozymandias " by Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of my favorite poems. It was first published in 1818 and explores the fleeting nature of power and serves as a critique on the inevitable decline of even the most powerful rulers and civilizations.

In particular, "Ozymandias" tells the story of a traveler who encounters a vast, shattered statue in the desert. The statue once depicted the mighty Ozymandias, a powerful ruler who believed that he would be remembered forever. However, time and the forces of nature have reduced the statue to ruins. The traveler reflects on the irony of the inscription on the pedestal, which proudly declares, "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Despite the grandiosity of Ozymandias' claim, there is nothing left of his empire but sand and decay.

Kind of reminds me of what another one of my favorite poet-philosophers, Ray Davies, famously said (in "Life Goes On"):

"And one day when you are gone
You know that life will still go on
But no one'll care if you've been good and bad, right or wrong
Life will still go on, yeah"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voktORjswvY also: great Dave Davies solo]

References
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[1] "Ozymandias", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias

[2] "Percy Bysshe Shelley", https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/percy-bysshe-shelley

[3] "Percy Bysshe Shelley: “Ozymandias”", https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69503/percy-bysshe-shelley-ozymandias

#percybyssheshelley #ozymandias #kinks #raydavies #lifegoeson