• underscores@lemmy.zip
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    19 hours ago

    I might be stupid as f but what does this mean:

    " 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:"

    “well those passions read”, wat?

    “the hand that mocked them and the heart that fed” wat ?

    • PolarKraken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      16 hours ago

      The statue’s features “tell” that the sculptor read those “passions” (the cold sneer, etc.) in the monarch’s face, his general mood and way of treating the world. And in doing, those passions survive and appear in this statue.

      I don’t really understand “the hand that mocked them and the heart that fed”.

      • JohnnyMac@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        mocked=imitated. So the skill of the sculptors hand that was able to capture the emotions (passions) that came from Ozymandias’ heart where those emotions truely lived. They were part of his core being, not an act or a face he had to put on to be able to rule.

        It’s saying the sculptor was exceptionally skilled and was able to capture the very essence of Ozymandias’ being.

        • PolarKraken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 hours ago

          Ah, thank you, beautiful. So much of that passage amounts to “for real y’all, you could tell by looking, this dude was a jerk” lol