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Ozymandias
Ozymandias
Play Audio By Percy Bysshe Shelley Toggle annotations 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.
I met a traveler from an old land, Who told me about two huge, legless stone legs Standing in the desert. Nearby, on the sand, A broken face is half-buried, with a frown, And a wrinkled lip, and a sneer of cold command, Showing that the sculptor understood those feelings well Which still remain, imprinted on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that supported them: And on the base, these words are written: My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look at my works, you powerful people, and lose hope!" Nothing else is left. Around the ruins Of that huge wreck, endless and empty The lonely and flat sands stretch far away.