...Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
— Percy Shelley, "Ozymandias"
And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
...Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Shapur II, Sassanid Shah, with Emperor Valerian of Rome a prisoner, and Emperor Philip doing obeisance. Worth boasting about.
ReplyDeleteEmpires feed from the carcass of past empires, become mighty themselves.
ReplyDeleteThen warring, a split, the mighty fall.
Rinse & repeat ad infinitum
It is the wicked hearts in men which is always the cause; to boast of conquest then to fall to ridicule.
Percy's wife Mary is a far more famous author/writer. Created a whole new genre with "Frankenstein".
ReplyDeleteKing of kings..... yeah, right. There is only one King of Kings, and you ain't it, son...
ReplyDelete