Ozymandias

Question 1

‘sneer of cold command’

Answer 1

• harsh ‘c’ sound paired with harsh ‘b’ sound in ‘boundless and bare’ -> shows speakers distaste and disdain, reveals he was an unpopular tyrant
• harsh sounds also echoes the way he treated people was callous and cruel
• narrator, sculptor, traveller recognise the king’s arrogance
• suggests he viewed his subjects as mere tools for his self-aggrandizement, ironically contrasts with his downfall

Question 2

'’King of Kings..Look on my works ye mighty and despair!’

Answer 2

• repitition of kings -> taken from bible - emphasises his belief that he is the greatest, implies his pride and arrogance made him think his power was omnipotent like God’s
• imperative and stressed syllable ‘look’ -> highlights commanding tone, depicts him as a tyrant
• arrogant, powerful, hubris - challenges other leaders + criticises their work BUT ironic -> he tells them to ‘despair’ bc of the size and grandeur of his works when they should actually despair at how transient their power is, like his

Question 3

‘The lone and level sands stretch far away’

Answer 3

• power: human achievements are insignificant compared to time; art can preserve human existence but it is also only temporary - shows nature and time have more power than anything else
• ‘sands’ - symbolic of time, esp during the time the poem was set (as hourglasses were often used), sand outlasts the statue - represents how nature and time are more powerful
• ‘lone and level’ - alliteration shows desert is vast, lonely and has a timeless quality - nature is an unstoppable force to which human beings are ultimately subservient

Question 4

Context

Answer 4

Romantic poet - anti-establishment political ideals, tyrants can be overturned, Shelley disliked oppression of ordinary people, absolute power and fixed hierarchies. Ramesses II - most powerful and celebrated ruler. Idea that everything, no matter how grand and vast it once was, is temporary and will fall victim to time. Message to those who abused positions of power and oppressed others that it won’t last.

Question 5

Structure

Answer 5

sonnet - love poem, but could be used to emphasise how the ruler was in love with himself, revealing how self-centred and arrogant he was.
iambic pentameter - up and down rhythm, reflects how casual the convo is (narrator + traveller) but also gives poem faster pace which shows how the ruler’s reign was short
free and disorganised structure - shows how people under his rule are now free
‘ozium’ - to breathe, ‘mandias’ - to rule ; suggests he lived and breathed only to rule over and have power and control