Ozymandias - Percy Byshhe Shelley

A fully guided AI visual interpretation of the poem.

I wanted to see what would happen if I left everything up to the AI. I prompted:

Choose a famous poem, fewer than 20 stanzas but no less than 5, and then create different prompts for a generative AI that creates images based on text prompts for each stanza in the poem. Be creative and and think laterally when describing the prompt. Choose a single artist who's style and themes best match the poem you choose.

The response was:

I have chosen the famous poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, which consists of 14 lines (1 stanza). For this task, I will divide the poem into five parts and create creative and lateral prompts for a generative AI that creates images based on the text of each part. I will use the style and themes of Salvador Dalí as the single artist best matching the poem.

For reference, the poem is:

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert… Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains.
Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

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The prompts suggested were:

1. "Create a surreal image of a traveler describing a vast desert scene, with the sands and sky melting into each other in the style of Salvador Dalí, evoking a sense of the impermanence of time."

2. "Design an image of two enormous stone legs standing in the desert, with the legs seemingly emerging from the dunes, as if they are being swallowed by the sands of time, inspired by Dalí's melting clocks."

3. "Illustrate a scene of a shattered stone face lying in the sand, with the facial features distorted and stretched like the soft watches in Dalí's 'The Persistence of Memory,' representing the fading memory of the once-great ruler."

4. "Depict a pedestal with the inscription 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings,' surrounded by a barren, otherworldly landscape filled with strange, Dalí-esque objects, symbolizing the emptiness of pride and power."

5. "Create a striking image of the boundless desert stretching far into the distance, with the remnants of Ozymandias' statue sinking into the sands, and the melting horizon suggesting the ultimate futility of human achievements in the face of time, in the style of Salvador Dalí."

Rather impressively, Chat GPT added:

Each of these prompts is inspired by a part of the poem "Ozymandias" and aims to capture the main imagery and themes, while incorporating the style and themes of Salvador Dalí for a creative and lateral touch.

The Images

Ozymandias - As rendered by Midjourney