ozymandias Flashcards
1
Q
what are some core feeling and attitudes within the poem?
A
- pride
- arrogance
- power
2
Q
how is pride a key feeling in the poem?
A
- ruler proud of what he achieved, called on other leaders to admire what he did
3
Q
how is arrogance a key feeling in the poem?
A
- inscription shows ruler believed he was most powerful ruler in the land
- also thought he was better than those he ruled
4
Q
how is power a key feeling in the poem?
A
5
Q
what is the form of the poem like?
A
- sonnet
- turning point at line 9 like a Petrarchan sonnet
- doesn’t follow regular sonnet rhyme scheme which could reflect that human power/structures can be destroyed
- iambic pentameter, often disrupted
- story is second-hand account which further distances reader form dead king
6
Q
what is the structure of the poem like?
A
- narrator builds image of statue by focusing on different aspects of it
- poem ends by describing enormous desert which helps to sum up insignificance of statue
7
Q
describe how irony is used within the poem
A
- nothing left too show for ruler’s arrogant boasting/great civilisation
- ruined statue seen as symbol for temporary nature of political power/human achievement
- use of irony reflects hatred of oppression and belief in possibility to overturn social/political order
8
Q
describe how language of power is used within the poem
A
- poem focuses on power of ozymandias, representing human power
- however, his power lost and only visible due to power of art
- nature has ruined statue so nature and time more powerful than anything
9
Q
describe how angry language is used within the poem
A
- tyranny of ruler suggested through aggressive language
