Ozymandias

Question 1

Who is the poet?

Answer 1

Shelley

Question 2

Key facts about Shelley

Answer 2

romantic poet
atheist
pacifist
anti-monarchy
supported social justice

Question 3

What are the key themes?

Answer 3

time/memory
kingship/power
love
decay/destruction
vastness
loss
isolation
power of nature

Question 4

Who is Ozymandias?

Answer 4

Rameses II was a ruler of ancient Egypt
Believed to be involved in Moses’ exodus
Statue was real
Remembered for tyranny and military exploits

Question 5

What is romanticism?

Answer 5

beauty of nature
simplicity of past
rejecting institutions of power

Question 6

How does King George III relate to the poem?

Answer 6

engaged in military conflict
remembered for oppression and tyranny
13 colonies rebelled

Question 7

What is the form?

Answer 7

Sonnet

Question 8

How does form reflect the message of the poem?

Answer 8

Mix of Petrarchan (14 lines) and Shakespearean (iambic pentameter + ABAB rhyme scheme and GG ending) forms

Defies traditions -> suggesting a give away to new power

Irregular rhyme scheme suggests chaos while single stanza suggests order- could be representing the opposing views of different groups on conflict

Sonnets typically are about love -> shows the kings love for himself

Question 9

What is the poems perspective?

Answer 9

First person
Omniscient
“I” mentioned once to show insignificance and imply that the perspective doesn’t matter
Detachment
Reported speech (told through traveller)

Question 10

“Antique lands”

Answer 10

Ancient
Legacy = insignificance
Egypt failed in increasing influence

Question 11

“Desert”

Answer 11

Lack of life and culture
wasteland
emphasises how pointless his reign was

Question 12

“Shattered visage”

Answer 12

Irony
What was meant to show him as superior and unforgettable was destroyed by time

Question 13

“wrinkled lip”

Answer 13

Grimacing in disgust
Contempt for inferior subjects
Antipathy
Dangers of one person having unlimited power
Without empathy and remorse

Question 14

“Sneer”

Answer 14

Contempt
Heartless
Mocking
Insolence
Arrogance
Cruelty
Malicious

Question 15

“Cold command”

Answer 15

Consonance-> harsh c sound to reflect oppressive rule and callous lack of compassion
Anti-violence
Militant
No control over surroundings

Question 16

“The hand that mocked them”

Answer 16

Sculptor mocks the king
Expression contradicts image of grandeur
Mocked means model

Question 17

“Heart that fed”

Answer 17

Desire to please

Question 18

“Pedestal”

Answer 18

Power= undeserved

Question 19

“King of kings”

Answer 19

Irony
Pride and arrogance
Criticism of leaders inflated self opinion
Views himself as omnipotent
Title often given to Jesus meaning he sees himself as god-like and omnipotent

Question 20

“Look on my works”

Answer 20

Expects empire and kingdom to survive

Question 21

“Boundless and bare”

Answer 21

Power of nature
Decay
Alliteration
Vast and unending
Vast unending power of desert belittles human power

Question 22

“Lone and level sands “

Answer 22

“Lone” -> isolated, detachment
“Level” -> monotonous, featureless
‘Sands of time’ -> religious allusion, they have covered his memory, everything comes from the earth and everything will return to it

Question 23

“Far away”

Answer 23

Defies rhyme scheme
Insignificant and unrecognised
Conclusion of poem
Failure

Question 24

What language techniques are used?

Answer 24

Alliteration (power of nature, mocks attempts to evade death and cement legacy, statue stripped of power)

Consonance
Metaphors
Allegory (figures of power)
Dramatic irony
Personification
Negative semantic field

Question 25

How could human power be described?

Answer 25

Transient and insignificant

Question 26

What has power?

Answer 26

Nature

Question 27

“Colossal wreck”

Answer 27

Statue is a representation of human power and yet it lies broken. The sands around are vast