Worn statues lying face down in the grass
Lens-Artists,  Ruins,  Themed galleries

Gallery: king of kings

Percy Bysshe Shelley: Ozymandias

For this week’s Lens Artists challenge Ann Christine asks us to illustrate a favourite quote or poem. I have so many favourite poems, albeit not all of them easy to illustrate! I was inspired to choose this one in part by a recent exchange of comments with Maggie, of Monkey’s Tale. Her post on the ‘Ancient statues on Mount Nemrut’ in Turkey made me think immediately of Ozymandias.

My quotation above is of the opening lines of the poem; below I quote the rest with my chosen illustrations. Not all these ruins are of kings specifically, but all speak of a civilisation that once thought itself never-ending.

As an aside, I wonder if one day the statues of the Great Leaders of North Korea will lie in similar ruins, their apparently unassailable grip on power lost forever?

NB Photos three and four below are scans of very old slides (Jordan 1996, Egypt 1990). While not in great condition they are both of places that remind me of this poem.

Ruined tower with a face carved on it

One of 37 faces of King Jayavarman VII on the Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Worn statues lying face down in the grass

Toppled Moai, Vaihu, Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Immense worn statue of a seated figure

Colossi of Memnon (depicting Amenhotep III, ruler of Ancient Egypt c 1386 to 1349 BC)

Two men, one on a donkey, approaching a cliff with ruined buildings carved into it

Royal Tombs, Petra, Jordan

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