Ozymandias

Question 1

Subject matter

Answer 1

Describes a traveler’s account of a ruined statue in the desert, symbolizing the transience of power.

Question 2

Purpose (Theme)

Answer 2

Transcience of power, existentialism

Question 3

Emotion (Mood)

Answer 3

The mood is melancholic and ironic, as the shattered monument contrasts with Ozymandias’s once-grand ambitions.

Question 4

Craftmanship: Structure

Answer 4

A sonnet with a twist on the traditional rhyme scheme, reflecting the poem’s theme of decay.

• Petrarchan (ABBAABBA CDECDE)
• Shakespearean (ABABCDCDEFEFGG)
• Ozymandias (ABABACDCEDEFEF)

Question 5

Craftmanship: Language

Answer 5

Formal and grandiose, particularly in Ozymandias’s declaration, enhancing the irony.

Question 6

Craftmanship: Imagery

Answer 6

Powerful visual imagery of the “shattered visage” and “lone and level sands” evokes desolation and desert.

Question 7

Craftmanship: Movement

Answer 7

Steady iambic pentameter gives the poem a formal tone, mirroring the grandeur of Ozymandias’s intended legacy.

Question 8

Craftmanship: Sounds

Answer 8

Alliteration in “boundless and bare” emphasizes the vast emptiness, reinforcing the theme of isolation.