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John Gant, King of Kings

An ode on the occasion of a momentous event

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

With apologies to Percy Bysshe Shelley:

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 John Gant, 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.”

It’s been a great ride, John. What a wonderful way to end it.