poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

After reading your comments I really think what my teacher telling me is bullsh*t.
I really doubt what he told the class. He said that though the art will be destroyed, the passion and the spirit of the art will still remain forever. The sculptor who made the sculpture did a good job on making it so the passion still remains. And also, he said that the king did was a very good kind and he did a lot of great things...however, I dont' think that's right...The poem is not supposed to be talking about the sculptor, right?

Mac:
Before you go bragging about those 4 years of university training, I would like to point out that you might want a lesson or two in usage. Instead of his/herself, you should say him/herself.

Also, don't point out others' mistakes rudely.

Why does everyone need to say 'This poem is definitely about...'. The beauty of literature is that of the thousands of angles you can look at it from. If you want to think that this poem is about Marxist-Feminist ideals with freakish references to Enid Blyton's teddy bear then that's great. Even if Shelley had written notes on his work telling us what he meant by certain words and phrases, it still wouldn't matter! The work is there to be probed and explored in what ever manner we wish!

Surely comments should be written with a sense of 'perhaps Shelley meant' rather than this dogmatic, absolutist/solipsist attitude that litters this site?

Yeah, ya'll forget Sarah's ramblings. The narrator is Shelley, quoting a traveller who saw the statue in the desert. The only meaning in the poem to be concerned with is that all we do will be destroyed by time eventually. Shelley was also not fond of royalty. I don't know where he stood on statuary, but it's not germane to the discussion.

This was the first poem I read at high school. I must have read it hundreds of times since then and it still hasn't lost its power on me. Just love it.

In a small adjustment of the first comment by "Jody" it is commonly known that the poem was written in competition with fellow poet Horace Smith (not John Keats.)

Shelley's influence on Yeats can be seen if you read this poem alongside 'The Second Coming', specifically the imagery of the desert birds and the Egyptian sands. Also see the last eight stanzas of 'Adonais' for similar parallels to Yeats' work.

honestly people...ramses...as narrator!? lol! you have got to be joking! READ THE FIRST TWO VERSES! "a traveller from an ancient land said:..." Ramses is not a traveller, he is a king. Also, he can't be in the future, talking about his past. Thirdly, why would he talk of himsef in third person if he does happen to be Ramses? Come, here is what i think, the narrator is not of great importance; rather, it is the description. An example of important description would be the emphasis on the statue's lips. Why only the lips? In order to show that he ruled by words, not by charisma or physical strength (though he did have strength, it was not his main power) I have much more to tell, but that would take hours to write...so I end my comment here. Remember! Ramses is NOT the narrator!

i got ABABACDCEDEFEF. i'm not sure about the scheme, so i was wondering if anyone knew what it really was.

Actually Mike G, it is Ramses. Small nit, I know, but I saw fit to have it fixed. There were other Rameses, this particular poem was about Ramses II