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 lips, 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.

PERCY SHELLEY
(1792-1822)

Reblogged from Zen Pencils.
Read also: The Economist’s article about this poem.

Mr. Walter White, king of meth dealers, has done a marvelous recitation of Ozymandias in Breaking Bad’s final season. Here it comes, dudes, in Bryan Cranston’s gritty voice:

READ ON!
Poets previously published @ Awestruck Wanderer: