Poem meme

[ubermammal]

 As directed by dash_hub .

OZYMANDIAS

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 lip, and sneer of cold command
tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things;
the

Comments

[lulie]

So remind me what this means?

[ubermammal]

Plain-english deconstruction: There's this huge, ruined statue in the middle of the desert - only a pair of legs on a pedestal are still standing, the head's lying in the sand nearby. From the look on the head's face, it seems like the guy must have been a pretty mean dude. There's an inscription on the pedestal that explains it: the statue was of a king called Ozymandias. The inscription's all trash-talking, all yeah, you think you're so mighty? Well check out my works... but there's nothing else to be seen, just desert.

I like it for a few reasons:

1. It's a sonnet. The rules are: 10 syllables per line, iambic pentameter, ABAB CDCD EFEF (GG) rhyming structure. He deviates from it a little bit - the third line breaks rhythm, and the rhyming structure is ABAB ?D?D E?EF EF - but I like poetry with cool structure like that. It's like canons in music.
2. It's ironic that the only part of Ozymandias's epic empire that hasn't been totally obliterated is the part boasting about how epic it is.
3. It's a cautionary tale about hubris. We should never

[ubermammal]

I found the one I wrote about fudge!

FUDGE.

Oh fudge, you wond'rous crumbly sweet delight
that tempts men's fancies through and often through;
your soft and supple texture mine to bite
and if not melt in mouth, then softly chew.
In flavours many you present yourself!
Vanilla, rum and raisin, chocolate too.
I cannot leave you sitting on the shelf
for risk you'll melt into a sticky goo.
To masticate on creamier stuff cannot
be done, for where would such a thing be found?
We must not let such glory start to rot,
so come, let's buy it all up by the pound!

Oh fudge, may angels sing of you on high,
and be in heaven for me when I die.