OZYMANDIAS
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 shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd 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.
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Eternal Egypt
Even before I traveled to Egypt I dreamt of it. I stood on a cliff gazing out onto a vast, barren landscape. A great ocean of sand appeared to undulate and ripple as cloud shadows moved across its surface. Gripped by a surge of joy, I felt surely I would be witness to some revelation, discovery, or mystery of mankind. Sand stretched as far as the eye could see but there was a kind of amorphous haze obscuring what I knew to be distant pyramids. Their shapes were tantalizing even in their obscurity. Then, as if someone clicked on a layer in Photoshop, the scene became highly clarified and overlaid by a transparency. Upon this was a text outline of history arranged on the diagonal and diminishing in size as it disappeared into the past beyond conscious mind or memory, but not beyond dreams. I mentioned this dream to tour director, Ruth Shilling, who very cryptically wrote that Egypt was preparing me for a journey! She may have been right!!
This photo gallery of Eternal Egypt is intended to convey not ruin or decay but rather to show a bit of the glory that once was. Hidden beneath Egypt’s ever changing surface is tangible evidence of who and what we were, waiting to be revealed in an ongoing process of discovery and revelation. While all things built will be consumed by time and the jealousies of power, man’s drive to be remembered is as eternal as the forces of nature which work against it. Yet, certainly, not all things will be unwritten by winds that gust across the desert!
Please respond with any interest you may have in these images. Your thoughts and questions are welcomed. All images are copyright ©jalovell; janthina50@hotmail.com.
LINKS:
Ruth Shilling is a consummate tour director whose love of Egypt and its people shines through all her efforts to help her clients fulfill their dreams. She gave me the freedom to follow the light wherever we went!! Give her a visit at:
http://www.1worldtours.com and also http://www.belovedegypt.com
My sister writes under the name Lynda Haviland…..of Egypt…of mystery…of romance…of adventure. You may find her and her “para” personality “The Immortal Diva” at her author site: http://www.lyndahaviland.com
One of the very best places to learn excellent details and history of the Egypt sites, I found at Jimmy Dunn’s Tour Egypt and I highly recommend it as wonderful resource:
http://www.touregypt.net more specifically… http://www.touregypt.net/monument.htm where you can click on the various sites.
©jalovell
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 shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd 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.
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Eternal Egypt
Even before I traveled to Egypt I dreamt of it. I stood on a cliff gazing out onto a vast, barren landscape. A great ocean of sand appeared to undulate and ripple as cloud shadows moved across its surface. Gripped by a surge of joy, I felt surely I would be witness to some revelation, discovery, or mystery of mankind. Sand stretched as far as the eye could see but there was a kind of amorphous haze obscuring what I knew to be distant pyramids. Their shapes were tantalizing even in their obscurity. Then, as if someone clicked on a layer in Photoshop, the scene became highly clarified and overlaid by a transparency. Upon this was a text outline of history arranged on the diagonal and diminishing in size as it disappeared into the past beyond conscious mind or memory, but not beyond dreams. I mentioned this dream to tour director, Ruth Shilling, who very cryptically wrote that Egypt was preparing me for a journey! She may have been right!!
This photo gallery of Eternal Egypt is intended to convey not ruin or decay but rather to show a bit of the glory that once was. Hidden beneath Egypt’s ever changing surface is tangible evidence of who and what we were, waiting to be revealed in an ongoing process of discovery and revelation. While all things built will be consumed by time and the jealousies of power, man’s drive to be remembered is as eternal as the forces of nature which work against it. Yet, certainly, not all things will be unwritten by winds that gust across the desert!
Please respond with any interest you may have in these images. Your thoughts and questions are welcomed. All images are copyright ©jalovell; janthina50@hotmail.com.
LINKS:
Ruth Shilling is a consummate tour director whose love of Egypt and its people shines through all her efforts to help her clients fulfill their dreams. She gave me the freedom to follow the light wherever we went!! Give her a visit at:
http://www.1worldtours.com and also http://www.belovedegypt.com
My sister writes under the name Lynda Haviland…..of Egypt…of mystery…of romance…of adventure. You may find her and her “para” personality “The Immortal Diva” at her author site: http://www.lyndahaviland.com
One of the very best places to learn excellent details and history of the Egypt sites, I found at Jimmy Dunn’s Tour Egypt and I highly recommend it as wonderful resource:
http://www.touregypt.net more specifically… http://www.touregypt.net/monument.htm where you can click on the various sites.
©jalovell
