Ozymandias by PB Shelley / Floodland

[eotunun]

Mainly, I went into details for why.
Some attempts to give reasons for my judgements hopefuly take my words beyond the range of pointless blurp..

[Europa]

But I thought...

http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/gen ... wlmisc.htm

FAVOURITE ROMANTIC POETS
none; they're all rubbish (unless we're talking about loony Frenchmen who at least killed themselves interestingly)


He's not being inconsistent surely

[7anthea7]

But I thought...

http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/gen ... wlmisc.htm

FAVOURITE ROMANTIC POETS
none; they're all rubbish (unless we're talking about loony Frenchmen who at least killed themselves interestingly)


He's not being inconsistent surely

Well, the interesting Frenchmen who killed themselves interestingly weren't Romantics, either, so the whole thing is in doubt, innit?

[Moakahontas]

That´s a fact, dearest...


But well..at least a great song, I think..

[stufarq]

"The lone and level sands stretch far away"

this corrosion quotes this almost word for word.

Just to be pedantic, TC only references the line ("On the loan and on the level ...still on the floor); it's Dominion that quotes it.

Eh? I liked that, but what was it?

Ozymandias by Horace Smith (who later retitled it "On A Stupendous Leg of Granite, Discovered Standing by Itself in the Deserts of Egypt, with the Inscription Inserted Below"), written in competition with Shelley and published a month later in the same magazine.

The statue that inspired Shelley is in the Karnak Temple in Luxor. Ive actually seen it and its pretty impressive.

As it hasn't actually been mentioned yet, it's worth pointing out that the statue was of Ramesses II, Osymandias being a Greek transliteration of part of his name.

[Nada]

Mainly, I went into details for why.
Some attempts to give reasons for my judgements hopefuly take my words beyond the range of pointless blurp..

… like an architect of words…
To be kept by words you can’t/were not meant to understand is no easy feeling…. So, the attempt to make sense…. Therefore, “in illusion, comfort lies�…
Do you know that in the Tarot the Two of Wands is called DOMINION? It means “victory over ones rivals�… In the Rider deck, it depicts a man, alone, on the top of a building (“on the lone and level�), gazing (“look your way�?) into space. At the distance, there’s a beach (“sand stretch far away�)…
Of course Eldritch wouldn’t have made his “prayers� by using a Tarot image, wouldn’t he?
Only if there were something to do with death and rebirth, Memphis, and Ramses III… And, of course, some lighthouse known today as the Great pyramid.... ok, ok… let’s make some tea, instead…..

[eotunun]

Points that stand against your interpretation:
There's a very earthly meaning for the world Dominion (And calling a thingy that represents domination "Dominion" isn't necessarily a tricky or meaningful connection, I'd tend to think) and a solid tetrahedron of stone isn't exactly a lighthouse, which is a transparent building meant to collect light.
If you look for a place that might serve as a lighthouse in a metaphorical sense for someone who condones left-wing ideas, that might be considered as a place of wisdom, e.g. "Palast der Republik" in Eastern Berlin, former GDR (DDR in German, as "1959 and all that" told you long ago). A building which had a rather transparent facade and stood in the middle of Prussia. It even was connected to the Russian White House. By now, it was leveled, though.
Level&building? Next point:
I'd as well consider being on a "level" the exact opposite of being on top of a building.
.....I agree about the tea, though.

[stufarq]

a lighthouse, which is a transparent building meant to collect light.

No, that's a greenhouse or a glasshouse. A lighthouse is a structure that shines a powerful beam of light to warn ships away from rocks or treacherous areas of water and coastline.

[Nadia81]

Not very likely Von would reference tarot cards.A lighthouse is a warning (ominous)but also a guide(welcoming)A lighthouse keeper also implies-for me-someone who lives in isolation.

[Nada]

Eotunun, it was very interesting the point you made about the "Palas der Republik"... However, I don't think Von is a master of words because he meant only one meaning... he has already admitted the existance of layers of meanings, entwined... and, yes, I've read in "1959 and all that" that fortunate quotation about "freedom of interpretation".... My attempt here was just to bring about some other points of view - just that. Floodland as a whole captivates me every simgle time I hear it (which must be at its 1000000...) but I simply grasp its meanings....
Knowing the sources of the quotations doesn't enlight ALL of it to me... Knowing about what caused him to write it neither... It's a piece of art - I was kept by the beauty in it - but... what more?And... about the lighthouse... there are people who consider the pyramids lighthouses... not in its literal mansory appearence... About the level thing.... I thought about level as the beach, not the man. About the tea - one or two cubes?

[eotunun]

One spoon, no milk, please.

Sorry folks, I've no idea where I was with my thoughts. (In the middle of prussia, maybe?) Of course lighthouse equals shipping beacon.. Gah!
There are people who consider the figures on the Nazca plain alien runways. I think of it as safe to skip such ideas, most surely you should when trying to understand Eldo.
..which might motivate him to mention them as runways.

[Moakahontas]

..the song sounds great after a full week hearing it..

[Memphis Rich]

we serve an old man in a dry season

[Esoterica]

I believe that Vincent Price did a great reading of this poem. Shelley would have loved the creepy edge in Price’s voice.