1557: Ozymandias - Revision history

Tromag at 20:01, 2 June 2023

2023-06-02T20:01:19Z

Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T21:03:57Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 20:36, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T20:36:27Z

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Jacky720: rv

2022-05-04T20:32:34Z

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 20:32, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T20:32:02Z

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108.162.242.58: Decrapify

2022-05-04T20:06:19Z

Decrapify

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Ex Kay Cee Dee at 17:21, 4 May 2022

2022-05-04T17:21:07Z

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Davidy22: Reverted edits by X. K. C. D. (talk) to last revision by Yfmcpxpj

2022-05-04T02:20:14Z

Reverted edits by X. K. C. D. (talk) to last revision by Yfmcpxpj

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X. K. C. D. at 22:28, 3 May 2022

2022-05-03T22:28:22Z

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Yfmcpxpj: /* Explanation */ Move comment from explanation to discussion.

2021-03-19T01:12:59Z

‎Explanation: Move comment from explanation to discussion.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Ponytail]] is reciting the opening of "{{w|Ozymandias}}" by {{w|Percy Bysshe Shelley}} (see [[#Ozymandias text|text]] below). However, instead of continuing on with the poem, Ponytail is going through a recursion where the information is always being quoted from "a traveler from an antique land" who recounts what they were told by a similar traveler from another antique land. The title text once again plays with recursion, but instead of it being a string of travelers talking about travelers, it is a string of pedestals that are quoting pedestals. In the original poem, the text on the pedestal is itself recounted as part of the traveler's story, so there are already two levels of quotation, and the pedestal's inscription describes Ozymandias as the "king of kings", which, being itself a recursion, gives rise to the comic's joke.
+[[Ponytail]] is reciting the opening of "{{w|Ozymandias}}" by {{w|Percy Bysshe Shelley}} (see [[#Ozymandias text|text]] below).
-The poem Ozymandias is about the last vestiges of a {{w|Ancient Egypt|once-great civilization}} that has since been lost to history. However, the poem itself, like the statue it describes,can be thought of as a pinnacle of achievement for its civilization- in this case, English civilization. So it is entirely possible that one day, after the fall of this civilization, the poem will fill the same role for it that the statue filled for Ozymandias' civilization, and would therefore be referenced by a traveler from an antique land who stumbled across it.
+The poem Ozymandias is about the last vestiges of a {{w|Ancient Egypt|once-great civilization}} that has since been lost to history. The poem is based on nested quotations: the poet, speaking to the reader, quotes a "traveler", who ultimately quotes words carved in the pedestal of a crumbling statue. When people recite the poem, they add yet another level of nesting, as the reader is quoting the poet, who's quoting the traveler, who's quoting the pedestal.
-The fact that Ponytail is now telling [[Cueball]] the story of this recursion implies that she is yet another layer of this recursion and is herself "a traveler from an antique land."
+When Ponytail recites this poem, rather than reciting it normally, she adds more layers of recursive nesting, suggesting that she heard the story from a traveler, who heard it from another traveler, who heard it from another traveler. It's not clear how many layers of nesting this goes through before the rest of the text is cited (or whether the recursion is infinite).
 The quotes are not nested properly, as they never end. So there is only the starting quotation mark (") for each quote. If she ever finishes there would be one closing quotation mark for each quote in the recursion at the end of her sentence. See [[859: (]].
 A similar joke was used in [[785: Open Mic Night]]

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-[[Ponytail]] is reciting the opening of "{{w|Ozymandias}}" by {{w|Percy Bysshe Shelley}} (see [[#Ozymandias text|text]] below). However, instead of continuing on with the poem, Ponytail is going through a recursion where the information is always being quoted from "a traveler from an antique land" who recounts what they were told by a similar traveler from another antique land. The title text once again plays with recursion, but instead of it being a string of travelers talking about travelers, it is a string of pedestals that are quoting pedestals. In the original poem, the text on the pedestal is itself recounted as part of the traveler's story, so there are already two levels of quotation, and the pedestal's inscription describes Ozymandias as the "king of kings", which, being itself a recursion, gives rise to the comic's joke. (This comment shows a misunderstanding of the phrase "king of kings." It refers to a king who rules over other kings; what is today known as an emperor. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.122.84|162.158.122.84]] 22:31, 3 June 2020 (UTC) )
+[[Ponytail]] is reciting the opening of "{{w|Ozymandias}}" by {{w|Percy Bysshe Shelley}} (see [[#Ozymandias text|text]] below). However, instead of continuing on with the poem, Ponytail is going through a recursion where the information is always being quoted from "a traveler from an antique land" who recounts what they were told by a similar traveler from another antique land. The title text once again plays with recursion, but instead of it being a string of travelers talking about travelers, it is a string of pedestals that are quoting pedestals. In the original poem, the text on the pedestal is itself recounted as part of the traveler's story, so there are already two levels of quotation, and the pedestal's inscription describes Ozymandias as the "king of kings", which, being itself a recursion, gives rise to the comic's joke.
 The poem Ozymandias is about the last vestiges of a {{w|Ancient Egypt|once-great civilization}} that has since been lost to history. However, the poem itself, like the statue it describes,can be thought of as a pinnacle of achievement for its civilization- in this case, English civilization. So it is entirely possible that one day, after the fall of this civilization, the poem will fill the same role for it that the statue filled for Ozymandias' civilization, and would therefore be referenced by a traveler from an antique land who stumbled across it.