Ozymandias#
Original#
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said :"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the disert ...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 hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias,King of Kings:
Look on my works,ye mighty,and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck,boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Translation#
Translation by Professor Jiang Feng, Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
I have encountered a traveler from an ancient land,
Who said: "There are two vast and trunkless legs of stone,
Standing 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 hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Translation by Professor Wang Zuo-liang
I met a traveler from a distant land,
Who said: "There are two huge stone legs,
Half buried in the desert... Beside them, on the sand,
Lies a shattered face, with a frown
And wrinkled lip, and a sneer of cold command
That shows the sculptor understood well
The passions of the subject,
Which still survive, imprinted on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal, these words can be seen:
'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Behold my works, you mighty, and despair!'
Nothing else remains. Around the ruins
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lonely and level sands stretch far away.
Translation by Yang Jiang
I met a traveler from an ancient land
Who said: "There are two huge stone legs
Half buried in the desert... Beside them, on the sand,
Lies a shattered stone face
With pursed lips and furrowed brows, still majestic
The sculptor must have understood the subject's emotions
The expression remains on the stone
While the person has turned to dust
On the pedestal, there are these words:
"I am Ozymandias, King of Kings
Look at my achievements, you mighty ones, and despair!"
Nothing else remains
Around the ruins, only vast stretches of yellow sand remain
Lonely and desolate, stretching in all directions.
Personal Thoughts#
I came across this poem while reading game reviews. It was mentioned that there is a scene in Civilization V related to this poem. The review used Professor Wang Zuo-liang's translation, which has a classical and touching feel to it.
I have always been interested in translation. I took two advanced English courses in college. One was translation and the other was interpretation.
Why am I interested in translation?
There are several reasons:
- When reading some professional books, I often struggle with the translations. Some Chinese translations are awkward and difficult to understand, while the original English versions are easier to comprehend.
- I listen to a lot of English songs. When I look at the lyrics, I often find the translations interesting.
- He can be considered my idol: Wang Xiaobo (I initially wrote Jin Yong here). In his article "My Mentors," he praised two translators: Cha Liangzheng and Wang Daoqian. When I first read this article, I couldn't appreciate the beauty of translated poetry, and even now, I still struggle to fully appreciate it. I hope that in the future, I will be able to understand it better.
Returning to this poem, I am ashamed to admit that I still can't fully appreciate the beauty of English poetry. However, from the translated versions, I can still feel the desolation.
My first thought was to associate it with the line "The ancient poet has ridden away on a yellow crane, and all that remains is the Yellow Crane Tower." It's normal for me to think of this line first: I often daydream, and one day when I travel to England, I will deliberately go to Wembley Stadium and find that previous post, with the caption "All that remains is the Yellow Crane Tower."
I read an analysis that said Shelley used Ozymandias to warn the kings. I can't quite grasp that idea, but it's also fine. I don't want to think too much, just feel, feel the "Around the ruins, only vast stretches of yellow sand remain, lonely and desolate, stretching in all directions."