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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2320 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 17, 2024

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Is the poem "Ozymandias" familiar to you? If so, did you first encounter it in one place, but it became more memorable later in a different circumstance?

I think I first heard it in full in a teaser trailer for Breaking Bad, although I probably would have been familiar with it before then.

I also had a brief period where I would try memorising poems. It was the first one I successfully memorised.

I also learned it from Civ IV when I was a kid. The game has a lot of interesting quotes read by Leonard Nimoy when you unlock new techs and I still have many of them memorized. However, the Ozymandias quote was one that I instantly loved even as a 9 year old and I still have the poem memorized nearly 20 years later.

We also "analyzed" the poem in high school AP lit (I'm sure I went overboard being a know-it-all about it).

Can’t remember where I first heard it. It wasn’t Watchmen. Probably either English class or one of those Egypt-adjacent kid’s books.

I recall reading it in a high school English class. I wouldn't say it became more memorable, but it was reinforced by 2 TV shows many years apart: 1st with Lost when an episode featured a vast stone foot that appeared to be the remains of a larger statue, which seemed like a clear reference to the poem; 2nd with Breaking Bad when an episode was titled Ozymandias in an explicit reference to the poem and likely meant to point out Walt's growing pride and hubris and hint at his inevitable downfall.

First encountered it in class in either grade or middle school, cemented by Civ IV in high school.

Watchmen (comic book). It was pretty memorable the first time.

Civ 4 for me as well.

Same. I wouldn’t be surprised if a large percentage of men of a certain age first encountered it there.

First time I read it was Googling it when I heard a line from it quoted in Civilization IV, I was probably 10. I don’t read much poetry but it resonated with me so much I’ve had the whole thing memorized since then.

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