"My names is Ozymandias, king of kings.
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair". (Shelley)
(to be recited in a silly voice)
Last summer I saw Ozymandias. It was on
the west bank of the Nile, across
from Luxor. His visage was
even more shattered than when
Shelley's friend saw it, but
the archaeologists had stuck it back on
his patched-up shoulders. I didn't see
any inscription, but maybe it had been moved
to the Cairo museum. The bit about
there being nothing around but sand is however
completely wrong, because these days
the area is thick with hucksters selling the
most appalling junk to the parties of tourists, so
when you think of it, the locals should really be grateful to
Ozymandias, because he hadn't put up the statue, the region
would be even poorer than it is, and it
set me wondering how Adolf
Hitler might be perceived a few thousand
years from now, and all the other tourists seemed
to be having equally solemn thoughts as they
gazed on what is styled the "colossal wreck", and I even saw genuine
despair in some faces, but maybe they
were only wondering how long they could last out until they found the
next lavatory.
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