Irony in the Tellers

If "Ozymandias" started with the first words "Two vast. . ." instead of "I met a traveller. . .who said. . ." I would have loved this poem less. Irony upon irony is what gets me in this writing. You find Ozymadias's message ironic because there are no grand works to look on after he is gone, and you think, "It serves you right for mocking 'ye Mighty.'" But there is something even more poignantly ironic and it is in the structure of the poem, in the introduction of this poem:there is a teller number 1 (the traveller) and teller number 2 (Shelley). The message is being moved along time. Ozymandias, King of Kings, is known; it's what he wanted, too. We know of his arrogance and message. So the joke or irony, really, is on us.  "The lone and level sands stretch far away" to us, to our ears; we've now heard and bare the story on, immortalizing Ozymandias--and the arrogant don't mind if their's is an uplifting legacy or not. Rally and be a teller!