The loneliness of leadership runs parallel with the loneliness of death, and reminds us that irrespective of power, fame or status, we all stand alone once we die. This has a far more sinister opening the sibilance of the first line signifies a desolate place of isolation. “The wonders of my hand.”- The City’s gone,. “The King of Kings this mighty City shows “I am great OZYMANDIAS,” saith the stone, Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws IN what feels like a spin-off of Sliding Doors, was it really down to talent and flair with language, or was Horace’s try none too shabby, and just missed the recognition as a result of timing? Judge for yourself, and I have included my own thoughts below: We all know how Shelley’s attempt panned out, but what of Smith’s follow up? Published after Shelley’s Ozymandias, and with an amended title that lacked finesse once he had lost the contest ( On A Stupendous Leg of Granite, Discovered Standing by Itself in the Deserts of Egypt, with the Inscription Inserted Below, no less), it is fascinating to wonder exactly how close we are to having an entirely different anthology in our classrooms. This wasn’t the first time that Shelley had taken on such a challenge Lord Byron and he had made a bet to create a ghost story both had lost rather spectacularly to Mary’s Frankenstein. Following the British Museum’s possession of a large chunk of a statue of Rameses II from the thirteenth century B.C., both Shelley and his friend Horace Smith, decided upon a challenge to write a sonnet about Ozymandias, the great Egyptian Leader and his inability to retain eternal fame and power. If you are going to write a poem as ironically everlasting as Shelley’s Ozymandias, it should always be as a result of a bet.
I had only been having a conversation about how all texts are interlinked, and how fascinating intertextuality is, so this seems quite apt.
I came across this nugget of information, and may well be a little late to the party, but wanted to share it as I revisit back through the Eduqas anthology for a refresh before September.
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