Ozymandias

Question 1

Who wrote the poem?

Answer 1

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Question 2

What is the poem about?

Answer 2

Content, Meaning and Purpose The narrator meets a traveller who tells him about a decayed statue that he saw in a desert.
The statue was of a long forgotten ancient King: the arrogant Ozymandias, ‘king of kings.’

Question 3

Context about the poem?

Answer 3

-Shelley was a poet of the
‘Romantic period’ (late 1700s
and early 1800s).
-Romantic poets were interested
in emotion and the power of
nature.
-Shelley also disliked the concept
of a monarchy and the
oppression of ordinary people.
-He had been inspired by the
French revolution – when the
French monarchy was
overthrown.

Question 4

‘sneer of …’

Answer 4

‘sneer of cold command’ -the king was arrogant, this has been recognised by the sculptor, the
traveller and the narrator.

Question 5

‘….works, ye Mighty and despair.’

Answer 5

‘Look’ = imperative, stressed syllable highlights commanding tone; ironic – he’s telling other
‘mighty’ kings to admire the size of his statue and ‘despair’. To despair because power is
temporary.

Question 6

‘the lone and level sands …’

Answer 6

‘The lone and level sands stretch far away.’: the desert is vast, lonely, and lasts far longer than a statue.

Question 7

‘round the decay of …’

Answer 7

‘Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare.’

Question 8

‘…from an antique land’

Answer 8

‘I met a traveller from an antique land.’