Ozymandias

Question 1

“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone”

Answer 1

• Barely standing or main body is missing

Question 2

“Half sunk, a shatter’d visage”

Answer 2

• image of a shattered visage creates a sense of irony: a King who believed so strongly in his own power and superiority, and who tried so hard to present this image of greatness through his statue, has now forgotten and destroyed by time/nature other than the visage that had been intended to show he was unforgettable.
• sculpture of him is shattered/broken - just like his power

Question 3

“wrinked lip”

Answer 3

• a wrinked lip conjures the image of someone grimacing in digust and contempt
• displays the king’s disregard for his subjects, viewing them as inferior and below him.
• this antipathy is then paired with the immense power which enables him to exploit and torture the people he rules with no empathy or remorse.
• shelley can use this to show the danger of a single individual having unlimited power invested in them.

Question 4

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’

Answer 4

‘King of kings’ - this claim seems ironic to the reader when they are known only via the report ofms traveller.
- Ozymandias’ pride and arrogance led to his perception of himself as the “king of kings”, criticises leaders and their ideas of themselves - omnipotence
- the only time he speaks in the whole poem and he recieves only 2 lines - shows his insignificance and how his power has faded

Question 5

“Nothing beside remains.”

Answer 5

Phrase right after Ozymandias’ two lines - complete contrast (nothing left after his reign) (overpowering nature)

Question 6

“The lone and level sands”

Answer 6

• alliteration, highlights insignificance
• monotone, featureless - no sign of his legacy. Lone - isolated - statue is all that remains.
  Statue is a metaphor to show that even the greatest can be destroyed.
  Image of “sands” is another metaphor for passing time or that time is running out (sand timer)
• ironic because if he was so ‘powerful’ then he wouldn’t be surrounded by just sand

Question 7

What does the irregular rhyme symbolise?

Answer 7

Sense of Instability

Question 8

The poem goes from ____ sentences to ____ sentences / significance?

Answer 8

Long sentences to shorter sentences. More and more punctuation, short at the end to show his time running/ran out.

Question 9

Significance of the 3 voices in this poem?

Answer 9

Ozymandias only gets 2 lines - insignificant
Narrative voice of a traveller - random part of history that is unknown