https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6 en-us 2022-05-26 09:41:52 UTC 2026-02-10 09:49:18 UTC hello@padlet.com aarasu2022 https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200669074 What makes life special is its limited nature. Knowing that there is a future where you can no longer exist is hard to come to terms with. This topic is greatly explored in British poetry, especially by the likes of Percy Shelley and Shakespeare. Literature like this helps the reader consider new ways of thinking about the vastness of time, to either empower them to live life to the fullest, or encourage the reader to leave a legacy of their own. I was inspired to research this topic after reading Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias”. A traveler talks about a memory of his, where he once saw a broken statue of “Ozymandias, King of Kings;” (Shelley 10) laying barren in the expanse of the desert. It shows that even a pharaoh can't leave an impact on time strong enough to let their memory persist. Upon first readthrough, the message of this poem was confusing to me. Is the story of the traveler supposed to discourage us, as anything we do will eventually be forgotten, both by people and the world itself, or is it to live life to the fullest, and not worry about years after your death, as no one is going to remember your mistakes. 

As I take my steps to integrating myself into the professional world, this is an especially important question for me to answer myself. What exactly is my goal in going to college? Is it to set myself up to be someone who has influence, or should it be to set myself up for a more relaxed and fun future. These questions are important ones to answer now, as these answers are what will influence the tone under which I experience the next transformative years of my life.

Time is one of the key themes of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Though Shelley leaves the question rather open ended, Shakespeare is very clearly trying to convey a message. Time is vast, and death has no exception, but this should not discourage you from living. This fact is why it is important for us to make the most of our lives as the legacy we leave behind, with our literature, love and children is what is going to keep us immortalized. The uplifting nature of these sonnets made them extremely fun to read. Whenever I read one, I would be left in a good mood for the rest of the day. These sonnets are ones that I am going to save for when I am facing existential or self confidence issues in the future. 

 As I reflect on this essential question I am slowly approaching an answer that I will be sticking to for the years to come. I want to succeed in life, to be specific, I want to have challenged myself to improve, make meaningful relationships, and leave a legacy within a smaller, more personal scale. I am not concerned with becoming the next billionaire or starting the next big company. I want to meet people that I will enjoy spending time with, and that will help me push myself individually.


]]> 2022-05-26 09:43:36 UTC https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200669074 aarasu2022 https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200671758 "Ozymandius" by Percy Byshe Shelley
The vastness of time, almost as though whatever you do now, will not matter in decades from now. Just as Ozymandius, king of kings, couldn't make his legacy last, our efforts are going to be just as insignificant and futile.

Sonnet 12 by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare here talks about the vastness of time, and how everything eventually comes to ruin, but yet again there is a positive message as it talks about how one’s legacy is carried by their predecessors, that what you do to the world is little compared to the impact you make on people.

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare again acknowledges the vastness of time, but like his other sonnets talks about how though people die their legacy carries on, in this case with the literature about them.

Sonnet 60 by William Shakespeare
Time consumes everything, and it keeps on ticking but Shakespeare argues his works will be a legacy he leaves behind, having an impact. This goes directly against Shelley's idea that people can't leave an impact due to the vastness of time.]]> 2022-05-26 09:46:47 UTC https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200671758 aarasu2022 https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200674978 This piece reminded me of "Ozymandias", where a barren dessert reflects the passage of time. How everything unique in the dessert is being covered by a clock, showing that its time is ticking down.]]> 2022-05-26 09:50:57 UTC https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200674978 aarasu2022 https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200679753 Since I focused on multiple poets, I picked the time period where this topic was primarily discussed, to give us more context into what everyone was facing as a society during that time period.]]> 2022-05-26 09:57:26 UTC https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200679753 aarasu2022 https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200682010 This is one of my favorite photographs, taken by voyager 1, the tiny dot seen in the image is earth. This really gives us context on how insignificant we are in scale, but at the same time gives us confidence for how important what we have is.]]> 2022-05-26 10:00:28 UTC https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200682010 aarasu2022 https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200684691 http://www.umsl.edu/~fraundorfp/ifzx/earthtimes.html

This is an article that give us a better scale for what time is, and how miniscule our time is compared to the scale of living things.]]> 2022-05-26 10:04:07 UTC https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200684691 aarasu2022 https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200690461 https://poemanalysis.com/percy-bysshe-shelley/ozymandias/

This article talks about the meaning, context, literature and FAQs about Ozymandias. It greatly helped me understand the message underneath the complex writing. ]]> 2022-05-26 10:11:52 UTC https://padlet.com/aarasu2022/i7yryrw5r6ejowt6/wish/2200690461