Shelley 's is the better poem but I like Smith 's attempt to bring the transience of power home to London. I think the two men were friends.
Shelley 's is the better poem but I like Smith 's attempt to bring the transience of power home to London. I think the two men were friends.
See, I rather feel the sestet of Smith's is the weakest part. I mean, if you're talking about the transience of rulers and civilizations, in general, isn't the similarity with modern society already implied? It seems to me that by breaking away from the sculpture to directly comment on the current times, Smith is just stating bluntly what Shelley already suggested.
"As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being." --Carl Gustav Jung
"To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due." --Neil Gaiman; The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists
"I'm on my way, from misery to happiness today. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh" --The Proclaimers
I don't know that a connection to modern society is implied here, especially considering the specific conditions in which the poem was created (write about a decayed statue of Ozymandias, ruler of a once-great empire). Given how literally Smith approached the subject, he could have easily kept his focus on ancient Egypt. But yes, the idea becomes watered down by Smith's blunt writing.
I wrote a poem on a leaf and it blew away...
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