Where he'd turned back to quell dissent at home, I travelled on, through China and Tibet, gathering martial wisdom as I went. I followed him through Babylon, up through Kabul to Samarkhand then down the Indus, where he met the first elephants of war. Heading south, he entered Egypt through Memphis, where they proclaimed him son of Amon, judge of the dead, whose name means "hidden one." Under rule from Alexandria, the classic culture of the great Pharaohs was restored. Perhaps because of the challenge it represented: the ancient world's greatest puzzle was there, a knot that couldn't be untied. I followed the path of Alexander's war machine along the black sea coast, imagining his armies taking port after port, blood on ancient bronze. I wanted to have something to say should we meet in the hall of legends. I wanted to match his accomplishment, bringing an age of illumination to a benighted world. Next, I departed for Northern Turkey, to retrace my hero's steps. to demonstrate the possibility of achieving anything starting from nothing. perhaps unnecessarily, though who can judge such things? Yet how he nearly approached his vision of a united world! I was determined to measure my success against his. Ruling without barbarism! At Alexandria, he instituted the ancient world's greatest seat of learning. He died, thirty-three, ruling most of the civilized world. A young army commander, he'd swept along the coasts of Turkey and Phoenicia, subduing Egypt before turning his armies towards Persia. The only human being with whom I felt any kinship died three hundred years before the birth of Christ. Faced with difficult choices, I knew nobody whose advice might prove useful. Do you understand? My intellect set me apart. My inheritance offered life long idle luxury, and yet, needing nothing, I burned with the paradoxical urge to do everything. By seventeen, my parents were both dead, and I faced a different decision. Perhaps I decided to be intelligent rather than otherwise? Perhaps we all make such decisions, though that seems a callous doctrine. What caused such precociousness? My parents were intellectually unremarkable, possessing no obvious genetic advantages. Entering school, I was already exceptionally bright, my perfect scores on early test papers arousing such suspicion that I carefully achieved only average grades thereafter. My parents reached America the year I was born, 1939.What in my life, does not deserve celebrating?.The ancient world's greatest puzzle was there, a knot that couldn't be untied. I personally believe that we would all be better off if people thought more about the consequences of their actions.Quotes Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias My intellect set me apart. Shelley’s “Mont Blanc” is a perfect example of the type of poetry that humbles humanity by describing this effect of nature. They should be mindful of how they treat others because the true impact they can have is on the lives of the people around them. Therefore, in my opinion, people should be conscious of the consequences in their actions. Nature makes people aware of the fact that in the grand scheme of things each individual is significant. There are people in the world don’t care about the consequences of their actions because they believe they have a right to take whatever they want. It humbles humanity which is crucial when much of humanity has a tendency to find themselves invincible. As we talked about in class, nature makes humans take a step back and realize their insignificance within the context of the Earth. I think that this immortal power of nature is what makes poems about nature particularly impactful. The downfall of Ozymandias’ statue is not unique the sands which led to its deterioration “stretch far away.” While Shelley acknowledges the beauty and wonder of nature in Mont Blanc, here he also recognizes the power and ruthlessness of nature. Round the decay \ Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare \ The lone and level sands stretch far away” (12-14). The traveller remarks, “Nothing beside remains. Although Ozymandias was not conquered by men, his statue and symbol of strength is torn down by the forces of nature. As time goes by, the passage decays and breaks down. However, while people die, nature remains. This is a taunt to all other men, a message that he is stronger than all others. The quote on the statue reads, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings \ Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” (10-11). The statue of Ozymandias, once a symbol of strength and domination, has been destroyed not by people, but by the natural passage of time. What struck me as interesting in Peter Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias” was the power and timelessness attributed to nature by the speaker.
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