Post AaJUxldmHadFNHCI6q by clive@saturation.social
(DIR) More posts by clive@saturation.social
(DIR) Post #AaJHqfdMuyNPJXI8X2 by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T00:57:03Z
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"The B-Side of 'Ozymandias'"Did you know that when Percy Bysse Shelley wrote "Ozymandias", he did so in a friendly competition with his pal Horace Smith ...... who also wrote his own version of the same poem, making the same point?Except here's the thing:I think Smith's "Ozymandias" might be even *better*Part of it, anywayMy essay: https://clivethompson.medium.com/the-b-side-of-ozymandias-6651dee01c08A free "friend" link in case you're not a Medium subscriber: https://clivethompson.medium.com/the-b-side-of-ozymandias-6651dee01c08?sk=7f78cb459f021e43a9dae4a16e017194
(DIR) Post #AaJI7LCs7TZAsmqZmq by stiffelman@mstdn.social
2023-10-01T01:00:03Z
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@clive Anything to distract me from thinking about Ancient Rome.
(DIR) Post #AaJIRaqzeaMJCeGq3s by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T01:03:42Z
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@stiffelman I exist to serve
(DIR) Post #AaJLwVJgafsOrx7dpo by bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot
2023-10-01T01:42:11Z
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@clive Sorry to remind you about ancient Rome, but Smith's poem recalls the Old English poem about Roman ruins:Wondrous is this foundation – the fates have broken and shattered this city; the work of giants crumbles.The roofs are ruined, the towers toppled,frost in the mortar has broken the gate,torn and worn and shorn by the storm,eaten through with age. The earth’s graspholds the builders, rotten, forgotten,the hard grip of the ground, until a hundredgenerations of men are gone.
(DIR) Post #AaJUxldmHadFNHCI6q by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T03:23:58Z
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@bodhipaksa Nice! Who wrote it?
(DIR) Post #AaJbTn9Qnkd53DelcW by jaymcgavren@mastodon.social
2023-10-01T04:37:01Z
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@clive Makes me wonder which of the modern Photoshop battles, DJ battles, etc. are also going to go down in history.
(DIR) Post #AaK2UbriwamX6KzLzE by standev@mastodon.online
2023-10-01T09:39:42Z
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@clive the friend link is also prompting for Medium login
(DIR) Post #AaKCTB0GKa6Z2cwCFU by bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot
2023-10-01T11:31:29Z
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@clive I don’t think the authors of any of these Old English poems are known.
(DIR) Post #AaKVes8oBTR795E2fA by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T15:05:17Z
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@bodhipaksa Aha, yes
(DIR) Post #AaKbga9IeH2PeFebEO by ppatel@mstdn.social
2023-10-01T16:13:26Z
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@clive I did a 30 page essay in college comparing the two. I agree that Smith's version is way better. I managed to get an a++ on that essay so the prof either agreed or I wrote something worthy of being read.
(DIR) Post #AaL9JHhKTpwOCidKJE by jaymcgavren@mastodon.social
2023-10-01T04:39:34Z
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@clive (However briefly.)
(DIR) Post #AaL9JIWjOj3cm8gNQe by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T22:30:45Z
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@jaymcgavren Yes!
(DIR) Post #AaL9Q69Fot1UPWwaQK by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T22:31:20Z
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@ppatel omg I’d love to read that essay! Is it still around anywhere digitally?
(DIR) Post #AaL9WkcEHB0HehfXmq by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T22:31:51Z
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@standev Lemme log in and fix that …
(DIR) Post #AaL9eFfrCRCU0bwVV2 by ppatel@mstdn.social
2023-10-01T22:33:52Z
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@clive I went to check after reading your piece. I have it but it's on a 3.5 disk. If I could get it out of there, I'd be happy to share. I wanted to reread it.
(DIR) Post #AaL9lVtvGbpkMXz5to by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-01T22:35:08Z
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@standev Hmmm the link in there *was* the friend link -- and I see there's been a lot of visits from Mastodon using in in the last 24 hours ... maybe it was a bug?Were you trying it on mobile or laptop?Here's the "friend" link freshly copied again, just in case: https://clivethompson.medium.com/the-b-side-of-ozymandias-6651dee01c08?sk=7f78cb459f021e43a9dae4a16e017194
(DIR) Post #AaLCIzOep6QFJ4RzkW by standev@mastodon.online
2023-10-01T23:04:20Z
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@clive that one worked for me. After some browser swapping (all mobile/iOS): Safari reader mode, Instapaper, and Firefox all give the teaser only. Both Safari in-app and regular Safari in non-reader mode gave the full article. Thanks for helping me!
(DIR) Post #AaLCPBW2g4UmdArJZY by standev@mastodon.online
2023-10-01T23:04:38Z
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@clive To the article: I think Smith is nowhere near Shelley’s level as a poet, but as you point out he did a better job of forcing the audience to draw the obvious parallel between Ramses and their present privileged position. Even though Shelley leaves that part unsaid, it seams reasonable that he expected his audience to be able to make that inference on their own.
(DIR) Post #AaMGlFotwutrKFQ2q0 by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-02T11:29:02Z
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@standev 🤘🏻🤖
(DIR) Post #AaMH3EwDy0GrnqQ8YK by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-02T11:32:16Z
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@standev Absolutely — the same inference is there in Shelley’s poem, and one could argue that his poem is all the more powerful for leaving that unstated I’m still awfully charmed by the vista of that hunter, though. It probably comes from my being a sci-fi fan! The trope of “stumbling across ruins of a civilization and realizing it is *yours*” is a trope, to the point of being a cliché, and science fiction — as with, say, “Planet of the Apes” …
(DIR) Post #AaMH9FrVRd7wPE58U4 by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-02T11:33:19Z
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@ppatel If you ever do, share away! Love to read it … clive@clivethompson.net
(DIR) Post #AaOEaJQQOT2njHXqdM by infiniteshark@mastodon.nz
2023-10-03T10:14:00Z
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@clive Fascinating. I think I still prefer Shelly’s version, but this new (to me) version definitely has something to it.
(DIR) Post #AaPsyOlsMM96aHZvJA by clive@saturation.social
2023-10-04T05:20:21Z
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@infiniteshark Yeah, I think I wind up in the same place