Hail Thee

Hail Thee was once said by me to monarch.

Then came a time which made this whole world dark,

So I stepped up with no time for wasting.

I can finally become a true king

I can rule and charge all my inhabitants

Now truly nothing I possibly can’t.

Drop your pitiful, poignant patella

To the ground and I will save you from the eternal blazes underneath,

“Hail Thee, hail Thee!” yes, keep chanting my name

It feeds my ego, music to my ears

Like humans, hearing only what they want to hear

So blinded they are, they never try to change.

But now I can watch my power plunging

I guess prestige is not unlimiting, as I see my downfall elevating.

I will become history, a chapter in the books

And everyone must boast me, even the trees will sing.

When I am gone, ask whomever, “Hail Thee.”

And they shall respond,

“Who is Thee?”

‘Hail Thee’ composition

‘Hail Thee’ is a free verse lyric by Gideon Seo with a satirical and hubristic tone. Seo was inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and it shares the themes of human hubris and arrogance to show the eventual downfall of everyone that is high in power; life is momentary, nothing lasts forever. Gideon Seo’s poem contains poetic devices such as metaphor, personification, irony, alliteration, oxymoron, and finally satire. The poem contains thematic insights of the negative repercussions of greed and arrogance. The first takeaway from Seo’s poem is that although it is not in a specific pattern or scheme, hence it being a free verse, after reading it, it is visible that the poem seems to be in chronological order. The narrator in the poem starts off by being a normal citizen, then he “become[s] a true king,” then he dies. (4) Despite this being written over hundreds of years ago, Seo’s poem contains a lot of universal hubristic messages. Seo gets clever with his language on line 7 using alliteration: “Drop your pitiful, poignant patella.” Patella is a part in the knee, so the king is saying ‘Kneel before me’ in other words. Seo uses the imagery of the eternal hell, Tartarus, to demonstrate that he will become others’ savior: “and I will save you from the eternal blazes underneath.” The narrator in this poem does not classify himself as an average civilian after becoming king, instead he classifies himself in a higher and more superior hierarchy and scolds the “humans [for] hearing only what they want to hear.” (11) This line is ironic as the king is also one of those humans who hears what he wants to hear. Through the line, “‘Hail Thee, hail Thee’ yes keep chanting my name,” his arrogance and hubris was identified; he’s blinded by his arrogance to fail to see the inevitable future ahead of him, death. His ego is so fed by his citizens repeating, “Hail Thee,” over and over again: “music to my ears.” (9, 10)

The turning point is initiating by the word “But” on line 13. He finally rather realizes that his power was not unlimited as he starts to become weaker and weaker towards his death: “But now I can watch my power plunging. I guess prestige is not unlimiting, as I see my downfall elevating.” (14) Additionally, Seo gets clever with his language and uses an oxymoron: “downfall elevating.” (14) This is extremely intelligent because downfall means that he is going down and down in levels of power, however, it’s indicating that his downfall is just becoming greater. Eventually, he does not learn from this experience. He is dying and suffering and ultimately losing his spot at the top but he still thinks that he’s the greatest and that everyone will still praise him and long him even after he’s dead: “I will become history, a chapter in the books and everyone must boast me, even the trees will sing.” (15, 16) Seo uses personification to make a statement that absolutely ‘everyone will boast me after I’m dead, even the trees will sing for me because I am so great’. However, this entire statement is incredibly ironic because of the next 3 lines: “When I am gone, ask whomever, ‘Hail Thee.’ And they shall respond, ‘Who is thee?’” (17, 18, 19) It’s ironic because he thinks that he will get all of the honour even after he’s dead, but in reality, after he’s dead, no one will remember him. Through Seo’s universal and hubristic poem, the lesson may be learnt that nothing is unlimited, and no one is eternal as well. Even the people the highest power will eventually fall, unable to avoid their inevitable death.

‘Ozymandias’ composition

‘Ozymandias’ is a lyric attempting a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Through his poem, Shelley uses human hubris and irony to demonstrate that no matter how royal and high in power you may be, power will not be unlimited, and everything will eventually end with your inevitable demise. The hubris begins with the writing “on the pedestal” of the statue and “these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains.” (9, 10-12) This is incredibly ironic as he refers himself as the greatest and that he is eternal but at the moment, he’s only become a piece of desert junk “half sunk” under the sand, lost to people’s sights and minds. (4) This statement demonstrates how blinded he was by his arrogance and hubris. Ozymandias boasts of his “Works” and power, which is why he capitalized the word; however, in this arrogance he is unable to realize that power is something that was limited. (11) The arrogance was further illustrated by his “frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command.” (4-5) The sneer, especially, was the principal point of the visage which shows his colossal ego and hubris which the sculptor depicts: “The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.” (8) Furthermore, there is synecdoche in this line as well. “The hand” doesn’t only mean a singular hand constructing a statue, it refers to the person, the sculptor who sculpted Ozymandias. (8) Macbeth relates greatly with Ozymandias as Macbeth also demonstrates the theme of hubris, much like Ozymandias illustrates as well. Similarly, Macbeth believes he is untouchable, and that his power is unlimited but eventually, both of them fall to their defeat from arrogance. However, one difference is that Macbeth realizes his mistakes afterwards, towards his death, but Ozymandias does not, hence the classification of calling himself “King of Kings.” (10) Additionally, there is contrast in this poem. The contrast is between the “desert” and the scripture on the pedestal of the statue. (3) The imagery of a desert is used to portray the feeling of endless emptiness and loneliness. However, this contrasts with the ironic and hubristic writing on the pedestal: “Nothing beside remains.” (12) It is ironic how he says that nothing beside his “Works” will remain but in reality, he is alone in the desert, without anyone to support him. (11)

I chose this poem because I think that today’s society has a connection to this poem. I believe that most people that are high in any type of hierarchy tend to become more cocky and arrogant towards other people, ultimately seeing them as a lower class. Places like schools, workplaces, and finally a kingdom, experience human hubris and arrogance from higher classes. I agree that since they are higher in class, therefore they deserve the power; however, they shouldn’t be blinded by their own arrogance and take the detrimental downfall. After this poem is read, people should realize the real repercussions that we will face once we start being blinded and boosted of our own ego. The lesson must be learnt that nothing lasts forever, and everything will fall by our inevitable death.