Poetry reminds
Julia
♦ July 11, 2026
♦ 2 Comments
The Sahara Desert at sunset, 2017. Image via Wikimedia Commons
“When power leads men towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the areas of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.” — John F. Kennedy
I’ve decided to try something a bit new, and this post is the first experiment. You’ll have to let me know whether you think it should continue.
I first started studying poetry at Oxford University in Michaelmas Term 2020, during the Covid shutdown which enabled me to take a class online. I loved it and was hooked, taking another class in Hilary Term 2021 and eventually following up with summer studies there, enrolling in their diploma program in creative writing, which I’ve now completed.
By far, my best marks in that multi-faceted program were in poetry, so I have continued to read, study and write poems, gathering the proverbial endless rejections punctuated with occasional acceptances by online and print literary publications. I’ve been spending a good bit of time on the poetry planet, as I sometimes call it, where ideas and images are filtered through different lenses than those we use for the tasks of everyday life, or even for writing prose such as this.
I thought it might be nice to share some of my favorite poems here, one poem at a time. There are a few obstacles to doing that, the most obvious of which are copyright restrictions. However, as the poem below demonstrates, many great poems are old enough to be in the public domain. And those that are too new for such are often available online at the Poetry Foundation or other sites, so I can share links to those even if I’m not free to quote the whole thing.
The poem below is one I have loved as far back as I can remember reading it, probably sometime in high school. It seems quite fitting for President Kennedy’s quote at the top of this post. Its timeless message is relevant to all humanity from the beginning of our time here on earth. I hope its sobering words give us some perspective today.
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 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!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Defeat Despair 
Good morning, Julia!
I love this.
At least for me, poetry isn’t something that I can read and immediately comment on. It seems to have a more simmering effect. It means more after some reflection.
I can say that I agree that the poem and quote are well selected to appear together!
Blessings on your day!
Thanks Susan, glad you like it. I’ve had many years to let this one “simmer” in my brain, and I do think it means more to me now than it did in my youth.