Yesterday morning Daughter # 3 ventured that she had a problem with King David's wives, I rejoined with my reservations concerning the romance between the Emperor and Xiaolongxia in Diao Man Ghon Zhu , we then moved on to the difference between mistresses and concubines (an example from our acquaintance was brought in) which of course needed to be checked out but the encyclopedia didn't have "concubine".... and somehow we moved on to the difficulties Lenin's wife faced, and I don't know how we got to Mao Zedong.
We ended with Ozymandius.
OZYMANDIAS
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said - "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stood in the desert. ... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk in 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 fed 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."
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
3 comments:
That's a great poem. I used to study Shelley in my Romantics class in college.
I was watching "Gladiator" the other day, and Maximus said, "What we do in life echoes in eternity." I take that in contrast to laying up treasures where moths and rust doth corrupt. I think the Shelley poem illustrates that accurately. I also remember you husband preaching a sermon about a family heirloom that belonged to a relative who had long passed away, and he said something like, "This belongs to A. Well, then why does B. have it?"
Anyway, I had a problem with God telling David that he would've given him more women if David had just asked him. I'm very confused by that too.
Kristoffer
That conversation sounds sooooo like your family, and the way I like to remember you all. I had to smile, and even laugh a little.
I've loved 'Ozymandias' ever since 9th grade when I studied it in school.
Sarah M
I don't care for poetry, but I do like Ozymandias.
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