Shelley

Miscellaneous History
1

For anyone interested in poetry, there is always Shelley’s The Mask of the Anarchy.

LXXXVIII.

"And the bold, true warriors,
Who have hugged Danger in wars,
Will turn to those who would be free
Ashamed of such base company:

LXXXIX.

"And that slaughter to the nation
Shall steam up like inspiration,
Eloquent, oracular,
A volcano heard afar:

XC.

"And these words shall then become
Like Oppressions thundered doom,
Ringing through each heart and brain,
Heard again–again–again.

XCI.

Rise like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable NUMBER!
Shake your chains to earth, like dew
Which in sleep had fall’n on you:
YE ARE MANY-THEY ARE FEW.

Ozymandias is a classic, too.

I MET a Traveler from an antique land,
Who said, "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart. 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!
No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

2

There is also the now infamous Goethe poem:

Vanitas! Vanitatum Vanitas!

MY trust in nothing now is placed

Hurrah!
So in the world true joy I taste,

Hurrah!
Then he who would be a comrade of mine
Must rattle his glass, and in chorus combine,
Over these dregs of wine.

I placed my trust in gold and wealth,

Hurrah!
But then I lost all joy and health,

Lack-a-day!
Both here and there the money roll’d,
And when I had it here, behold,
From there had fled the gold!

I placed my trust in women next,

Hurrah!
But there in truth was sorely vex’d,

Lack-a-day!
The False another portion sought,
The True with tediousness were fraught,
The Best could not be bought.

My trust in travels then I placed,

Hurrah!
And left my native land in haste.

Lack-a-day!
But not a single thing seem’d good,
The beds were bad, and strange the food,
And I not understood.

I placed my trust in rank and fame,

Hurrah!
Another put me straight to shame,

Lack-a-day!
And as I had been prominent,
All scowl’d upon me as I went,
I found not one content.

I placed my trust in war and fight,

Hurrah!
We gain’d full many a triumph bright,

Hurrah!
Into the foeman’s land we cross’d,
We put our friends to equal cost,
And there a leg I lost.

My trust is placed in nothing now,

Hurrah!
At my command the world must bow,

Hurrah!
And as we’ve ended feast and strain,
The cup we’ll to the bottom drain;
No dregs must there remain!

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

3

Oh, and some cool fragments from the classical Hellenistic poet Archilochus:

I

These golden matters

of Gyges and his treasuries

are no concern of mine.

Jealousy has no power over me,

nor do I envy a god his work,

and I don’t burn to rule.

Such things have no

fascination for my eyes.

II

Ares is a democrat.

There are no privileged people

on a battlefield.

III

_*Some barbarian is waving my shield,*_
_*since I was obliged to*_
_*leave that perfectly good piece of equipment behind*_
_*under a bush.*_
_*But I got away, so what does it matter?*_
_*Life seemed somehow more precious.*_
_*Let the shield go; I can buy another one equally good.*_