TODDYMANDIAS

Toddymandias

(after Percy Bysshe Shelley) 

Note 

I                                               I met a barman from the Flying Pig

Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Sit on Akti Miaouli. Near them by the taxi stand,

Close to number 41, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor had those policy endorsements read

The fame of which inspired that lifeless thing,

The deductibles that mocked, and the commission deals that bled.

And on the pedestal these words appear:

‘My name is Toddymandias, of underwriters king,

Look on my clauses, ye brokers, and despair!’

Nothing beside remains.  Round the decay

Of insurance offices past, boundless and bare,

The ferries and tavernas stretch far away.”