View Full Version : I would like to be an Ozymandias


gopakumar
09-15-05, 10:04 AM
Hi,

Anyone have heard about Ozymandias. If not I will tell u who he is. He was the proud emperor whom Percy Bysshe Shelly damned in his poem
" Ozymandias ". But I like because he was proud of himself. He according to Shelley made a colossus of his shape and carved the following:
" My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty or despair"
Shelley wrote that poem to destroy the selfishness and the proudness of man whereas I write this to arouse them. What is wrong if one is proud about his powers, skills etc? What is wrong with ones confidence to face any thing in life? Shelley tld that he challenged even Gods but I would like to say it in another way : he had the guts to challenge Gods, whom we consider as the most powerful and that one cant do anything above them. So let us all try to be an Ozymandias rather than an incompetent.

geodesic
09-15-05, 10:39 AM
Firstly, the quote is "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair"
The poem is not about pride and confidence, but rather about hubris, and the inevitable ate following from such. Confidence can be justified, but never hubris.

Prince_James
09-15-05, 11:13 AM
gopakumar:

I completely and utterly agree. Let us strive towards and embrace greatness and let the peon slaves who would strip us our aspirations go back to the Hell from which they came!

geodesic
09-16-05, 06:25 AM
Shouldn't that be "...from whence they came!"? It has a much better ring to it

Cottontop3000
09-16-05, 06:35 AM
yes, whence, is always better.

one_raven
09-16-05, 06:38 AM
Actually, it would be "whence they came", not "from whence they came".
"From" is understood in "whence".
Whence means "from where", so "from whence" would mean "from from where".

Cottontop3000
09-16-05, 06:39 AM
or pom pom whore.

geodesic
09-16-05, 10:50 AM
I'm sure I could make an argument based on common usage here. Or maybe I just like redundancy.

Prince_James
09-16-05, 07:39 PM
Geodesic:

Damnation! You are right! I had missed the chance to use "whence". I love that term.

Rosnet
09-18-05, 07:01 AM
Okay, go edit your post.

gopakumar
09-29-05, 09:05 AM
Firstly, the quote is "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair"
The poem is not about pride and confidence, but rather about hubris, and the inevitable ate following from such. Confidence can be justified, but never hubris.
Actually I meant that the pride within us should be hailed and we should never contempt our skills.