Ozymandias
奥西曼迭斯
Percy Bysshe Shelley · 珀西·比希·雪莱
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand 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."
我遇见一位来自古老国度的旅人，
他说：两条巨大的石腿，无躯干，
矗立在沙漠中……近旁沙上，
半埋着一张破碎的脸，那紧蹙的眉，
冷酷的命令与讥诮的唇，
说明雕刻家早已读懂这些激情，
它们依然存留于无生命之物上，
嘲笑它们的手，供养它们的心；
而底座上，刻着这样的字句：
我名奥西曼迭斯，万王之王；
看看我的功业吧，强者们，绝望吧！
此外一片虚无。在这巨大残骸
的四周，无边而空旷，
孤独的平沙向远处延展。
雪莱十四行短诗，帝国虚荣的终极讽刺：王者的功业化为沙漠中的残骸，只有沙子记得一切。