Most people need at least one thing in their life to put their name on which acts like an external incarnation of their self-worth. I feel this way about my side-projects. Luckily those can't "die", though they can be threatened by eg an excessive employment contract.
Off-topic, but I remember feeling disappointed that Ozymandias was a Greek name for Ramses, probably the most famous pharaoh. There are still valuable lessons from the poem, but there was something beautiful to me about the idea of such an important leader fading into such obscurity that people don't even recognize his name.
I don't agree with the unstated premise that only the eternal can be meaningful that is behind statements like "nothing matters anyway". What we do and how we live is all that can matter. That which is for ever and cannot change is of no matter to us.
