(Modern English Adaptation)

I met a traveler who had returned from an ancient land.

He told me, "Two enormous stone legs stand alone in the desert. Nearby, half buried in the sand, lies the shattered face of a statue. Its frown, wrinkled lips, and cold, commanding expression show that the sculptor understood the ruler's pride and arrogance well. Those emotions still survive, carved into the lifeless stone by the artist's hand, revealing both the ruler's character and the sculptor's remarkable skill.

On the pedestal, these words are carved:

**'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings.
Look at my achievements, you mighty rulers, and despair!'**

But nothing else remains.

Around the ruins of that once-colossal monument stretches only an endless, empty desert. The flat, lonely sands reach as far as the eye can see.