'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Today I wanted to visit one of my favourite poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley, my third favorite romantic poet. A lot of his works are in denouncement of monarchy and governing hierarchies, and he’s better known for Ozymandias.
The poem is short, depicting the arrogance of an ancient king, who asks onlookers to admire the statue he’s built. Centuries have passed, and time has reduced his kingdom down to nothing. You can see the full poem below:
It’s a welcome reminder that no matter how much we achieve in our lifetimes, all of it will be reduced to dust in time. It’s a founding principle of stoicism (‘ultimately we all die’), and I’m always amused by the romantic treatment of various philosophies, usually to aesthetically stylize the principles presented, to bring them into the ‘romantic’ domain.
Shelley wrote this to check the arrogant nobles of his time seeking to continuously accumulate wealth, and it’s a good reminder to all of us to always check our drives for legacy - most of us are obsessed with stature, material wealth, ‘leaving a mark’, and take on a great deal of stress in pursuit of this -
Just remember, it’ll eventually all return to dust.
That initial picture is always amusing, because that little cutout sits in the central government building in Ontario, for Canada. It’s amazing that the creator was given license to have a line from Ozymandias - an ode to transience - take up residence in a place meant to imply stability and longevity.
Wednesdays are tough, but I’ll manage it soon. Cheers!