Ozymandias Flashcards
Key Idea.
Human Power is transient whereas art and nature will survive, transient compared to nature and time, a warning to all constitutions of power that they will not last.
Context:
Shelley was a romantic, King George III had an impact on the poem as it was written during his reign as King, he had reigned LONGER than any King before and outstayed his welcome. Remembered for his oppression and tyranny and many military conflicts , Shelley was a pacific romantic against George’s military exploits
‘Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies’
The image of a ‘shattered visage’, half sunk, creates a sense of irony as a King who believed so strongly in his own power and superiority and tried his upmost hardest to preserve his image of greatness through his statue, now has been long forgotten and destroyed by time
A wrinkled lip conjures the image of somebody grimacing in disgust and contempt, ‘and wrinkled lip, sneer of cold command’ , thus displaying the King’s disregard for his subjects, viewing them as inferior and below him. This antipathy, alongside his power which enables him to torture and exploit the weak. Shelley shows us the looming threat of a single individual having too much power for himself.
A wrinkled lip conjures the image of somebody grimacing in disgust and contempt, ‘and wrinkled lip, sneer of cold command’ , thus displaying the King’s disregard for his subjects, viewing them as inferior and below him. This antipathy, alongside his power which enables him to torture and exploit the weak. Shelley shows us the looming threat of a single individual having too much power for himself.
‘The lone and level sands stretch far away’,
The statue is in a faraway place, where it stands so insignificant that only travellers know it exists. Ozymandias tried so hard to extend his power across Egypt and now he is forgotten buried deep underneath the bare sands of Egypt.
