ozymandias Flashcards
what are the themes of ozymandias?
power, nature, love, time, man and religion
“I met a traveller from an antique land”
First person – old and suggestion of the traveller as a wise man who has a story to tell.
“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone”
Adjectives – the statue is ruined and lies forgotten in the desert.
“Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, / And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,”
Listing – shows the horrible character of the ruler that the statue depicts.
“Ozymandias, king of kings:/ …ye Mighty, and despair!’”
Proper noun – showing the power and arrogance of the ruler when he was alive.
“The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Sibilance – loneliness and forgotten nature of the statue in the middle of the desert reflects that no matter how powerful you were in life you won’t be remembered favourably afterwards if you are morally corrupt.
what is ozymandias about?
The narrator of the poem recounts a time when he met a traveller who told him a tale of a ruined statue that lies in the middle of a desert. He recounts how it had no body to it and all that was left was its colossal legs and the broken remains of its head and face. It was a statue of an ancient king called Ozymandias who was arrogant – something the sculptor had captured in its face. On the base of the statue was the phrase, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” as a boast of his
power. Ironically, the statue is now wrecked and the desert swirls around it. The power of man is finite and boasts are empty; whereas, nature has survived and continues to do so.
