So Just What Was That Poem Used To Promote “Breaking Bad”? [VIDEO]

So before the final season of Breaking Bad started, they had a promo that piqued my curiosity.  I knew I had heard it somewhere before, so I did a little research.

The poem is called "Ozymandias" by Percy Blythe Shelly.  The poem was written in completion with another poet and according to Wikipedia is about the "inevitable decline of all leaders and empires".

The reason I found it extra interesting is because "Ozymandias" is also the name of one of the characters in "The Watchman" movie and graphic novel (which I thoroughly enjoyed).

Here's the poem:

I met a traveler 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.

If you really can't get into the idea of this poem, check out the promo of Bryan Cranston reading it. It kind of hits home in the promo.