Ozymandias vs. Ponder These Busted Statues

Both poems deal with time and the relatively timeless nature of meaningful relics. Both poems recognize and place importance on what "remains." In Ozymandias it states "half sunk, a shattered visage whose frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, tell that its sculptor well those passions read which yet survive...." and states "nothing beside remains." In Ponder,darling, Cummings writes of the statues "notice what hath remained-- the stone cringes clinging to the stone, how obsolete lips utter their extant smile...remark a few deleted of texture....."Its interesting that both poets seem to acknowledge the fact that creations outlive their creators but the passion behind such creations shan't be ignored even in their absence. I particularly enjoyed the imagery of "vast deserts and sands" found in Ozymandias because of this imagery's role as a metaphor for eternity. Just as deserts go on forever so too will these relics in some form.