Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley is without question the finest poem in the English language. Although couched as a meditation on the Great Sphinx, Shelley captures the temporality of human life, the transitory nature of human culture and the despair and pathos it entails. Egypt is a particularly appropriate locale for Shelley to conduct his reverie. Geographically the Nile seems to flow backwards, from south to north. It flooded and receded in cycles of drought and abundance. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, which seems reversed in relationship to the river. Civilization thrived only along a narrow strip along its banks. This metaphysical landscape constrained the ancient Egyptian concepts of space and time, attuning their consciousness of place, their ontology and their theology. It determined the dynamics of their personal, social and mercantile interactions. As first observed by the Islamic philosopher Ibn Khaldun, nomadic Bedouin tribes roamed the desert from oasis to oasis. Lithe, nimble and agile, they developed their own ethos and religion. When they amalgamated into great cities they lost this cohesion, which inevitably lead to their decay. Recent philosophers such as Steven C. Levinson and Jeremy Naydler have brought Khalduns insights about the influence of spatiality into the present. Ozymandias is a profound lesson on the hubris and arrogance of the 21st century. We tried to articulate these sentiments in this musical version of the poem.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• David Kronemyer
• Leslie Chew
• Ibn Khaldun
• English romantic poetry
• Krysia Kristianne
• Egypt
• Egyptian
• Bedouin
• Nile
• Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Steven C. Levinson
• Sphinx
• Jeremy Naydler

[SentienceStudio]

Hi, thanks for your interest, several used copies typically are available on Amazon.

[MrDaverWaver]

Poets are the hierophants of an un-apprehended inspiration;

the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present;

the words which express what they understand not;

the trumpets which sing to battle, and feel not what they inspire;

the influence which is moved not, but moves.

Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.

- Percy Bysshe Shelley, “A Defense of Poetry”

[Axelgear2006]

There's a picture out there of the mummy of Ramesses the Great, a.k.a. Ozymandias. The man for whom the words were written, statues built, empires laid to waste.

All that is left of that man, that glory, that pomp and might, is a leathery corpse in a box.

A lesson in humility, if nothing else.

[kain5056]

That's too bad that she passed away, she had a really beautiful voice that deserves to be listened.

I still want to know where I can get a copy of this song (or the CD it was in). Legally, of course. I tried to search for the CD but could not find it anywhere, it was always out of stock.

[TheWoodlandGlade]

The singer is Krysia Kocjan (ak.a. Kristianne) a friend of mine from long, long ago. Now sadly deceased.

[kain5056]

I would like to know more about this song. I'm familiar with the poem, and this song adaptation is really good, both as an adaptation and as a song. I would like to know if I could (legally, of course) get an mp3 of this song anywhere. Also, what is the name of the singer? Are there other songs sung by her? Her voice is really good. Thanks in advance.

[swssinc]

@swssinc and everyone i know thinks its about ozzy well i guess i know wher my friend rank

[swssinc]

thank you very good I have love this poem since I first read it ozymandius1989@yahoo.com

[linj2fly]

very good work. My 10 y.o. son is learning this poem....it's nice to have pictures to bring it into perspective and a song to make memorization easier. Thanks for your work. He really likes the music.

[BradAlturn]

good work