Monday 16 March 2015

Ozymandias Replies



So, friend, you think my face and legs in stone
Are signs that I have failed? Friend, think again.
When I ascended to my marble throne
The land was forest, meadow, lakeside glen.
I took it and I wasted it. This desert tract
Stands as my most expansive monument:
Dead-life, as blank as hope, as bald as fact.
I made a world of sand. And it's this spent
Stage-set, bleached clean, that I am proudest of—
More than my palaces and bling and war—
Because it's the perfection of my love
When my rule's push came to my people's shove.
We tyrants know what power's really for.
I made my desolation to endure.
at

10 comments:

  1. Martin McGrath15 October 2017 at 06:21

    Love this. Nice work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown12 December 2017 at 06:02

    Lovely, but one flaw: Tossing in the slang-word "bling" is a jarring off-note.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7 March 2020 at 14:37

      I and (I suspect) Christopher Logue, strongly disagree.

      Delete
    2. Adam Roberts11 March 2020 at 11:25

      Logue, of blessed memory!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous7 March 2020 at 14:35

    This is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maolsheachlann30 January 2021 at 08:16

    I went looking to see if anyone had written an "Ozymandias replies" poem and found this. I like it! Accomplished.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Melissa Dow23 March 2022 at 19:45

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa Dow23 March 2022 at 19:47

      Whoa! I came here from Alan Jacobs's blog, only to discover that you're THE GUY PHIL CHRISTMAN INTERVIEWED.

      Delete
    2. Adam Roberts24 March 2022 at 08:32

      That's me!

      Delete