Ozymandias

Ozymandias är en dikt (sonett) av den brittiske poeten Percy Bysshe Shelley. Den publicerades första gången den 11 januari 1818 i tidningen The Examiner. Under antiken var Ozymandias (Ὀσυμανδύας) ett grekiskt namn på farao Ramses II.

För andra betydelser, se Ozymandias (olika betydelser).

Ozymandias

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."

Källor

• (på engelska) A Study Guide for Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias". Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale. 2017. ISBN 978-0-7876-8717-5. https://books.google.se/books?id=zF2qCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=ozymandias+poem&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiBxY3IuPnvAhVSxIsKHST9AkMQ6AEwAXoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=ozymandias%20poem&f=false. Läst 12 april 2021