Ozymandias Flashcards
“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone”
“vast” - big (adjective) figure of speech
“trunkless” - no torso
Entire quote demonstrates the the weakness of man and the power of nature
- shows the power of time
“Half sunk, a shattered visage lies”
“Shattered visage” - broken face (unrecognisable statue meaning it serves no purpose which shows arrogance of man)
“sneer of cold command”
“Snear” and “Cold command” - Synaesthesia technique
* - suggests Ozy’s character to be powerful + arrogance, ironic as he is left with nothing *
“king of kings”
Epithet/Hyperbole/Alliteration
- suggesting his arrogance and/or the arrogance of man
“colossal wreck, boundless and bare”
“Colossal” - a metaphor not only relating to size of statue but also his ego
“Boundless and bare” - the alliteration emphasies desolation/desert
- These points shows the arrogance of man
What is the context of Ozymandias?
- Percy Shelley is inspired by a recent unearthing of a large statue of an Egyptian Pharaoh (Ramesses II) who, like many other Pharaoh’s believed themselves to be mortal forms of God.
- The stone statues directly reference the staues and sculptures the Egyptians made
What is the theme of Ozymandias?
- We can imagine Ozymandias to be a powerful and arrogant leader.
- The poem is sort of ironic in the sense that it indirectly points out that all that remains is a bit of stone
- This poem focuses on two main ideas: the power of nature & the arrogance of man
What is the allegory of Ozymandias?
The statue in the poem, broken and falling apart in the desert with nobody to care is an allegory of every powerful man - the idea that they will also drift away until they are just another grain of sand.
What is the structure of Ozymandias?
Sonnet - normally used in love poems (this could be a love poem for Ozymandias, playing as a joke about his ego)
Irregular rhyme scheme - symbolic of the broken pieces of the statue
