The Modern Ozymandias

The Modern Ozymandias

 

By Elton Camp

 

On the death of  a despot

 

Among nations’ leaders, none more powerful than he

Showy medals displayed on his chest for all to see

 

His facial expression and most particularly his sneer

Caused all who were around him to tremble in fear

 

His orders he expected that all would quickly obey

Even if it was to murder innocents that he did say

 

In an unknown and unmarked grave he lies today

And for him too, the desert sands stretch far away

 

 

 

I met a traveler 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".

By P. B. Shelley