Ozymandias Flashcards
Rough plan
Opening - statue
Middle - sculptor
End - power of nature
Opening quotes
‘I met a traveller from an antique land,/ Who said’
‘Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,/ And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command’
Middle quotes
‘Tell that its sculptor well those passions read’
‘The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed’
End quotes
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings.’
‘boundless and bare/ The lone and level sands stretch far away’
‘I met a traveller from an antique land,/ Who said’
- poem begins with personal pronoun setting up expectation of intimate experience
- however we soon discover narrator is relaying someone else’s words introducing inaccuracy
- through this and use of ‘antique’ we understand interpret a loss of significance and hence power
- Shelley inspired to write Ozy after reading description of Siculus’s description so traveller may be him or just a person coming from thee area
‘Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,/ And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command’
- nature eclipses the most prominent part of the statue indicating a loss of importance, power
- sibilance dominating this line suggests a hissing sound of sinking under sand
- the parts of the face that remain convey realistic expressions connected to disgust/scorn
- consonance emphasises lack of heart suggesting a disregard for subjects
- creates a militaristic, hard sound replicating his disregard for subjects
- ‘cold’ juxtaposes with hot desert indicating that land is no longer his
‘Tell that its sculptor well those passions read’
- ‘sculptor’ has ultimate power since their art outlives power and he can portray him any way he wants
- artists seems to have a deeper understanding allowing him to represent both the surface of things but the heart of Ozymandias
- however nature is ultimately powerful since it amends the statue
‘The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed’
- subtle pun as verb ‘mock’ can mean to create a copy or to make fun of something
- traveller is simultaneously saying that sculptor made an excellent likeness of Ozymandias and by doing that portrays his cruelty and flaws so vividly
- ambiguity as to who the heart belongs to as could belong to Ozy, heart feeds his passions/ego. Alternatively, heart belongs to sculptor where his heart feeds his hand
- physical hand and emotional heart contrasts arts power to represent and judge
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings.’
- boastful statement on pedestal demonstrates arrogance and inflated ego
- counter productive and ironic statement since he would not need to announce his own name if he was so powerful
- caesura brings attention to allusion to being godly
- Shelley’s choice to place this after ridiculing the statue and Ozy, magnifies his powerlessness & transcience of human power
- uses greek name to demonstrate how power doesn’t last (taken away Greek name)
‘boundless and bare/ The lone and level sands stretch far away’
- natural force seen to be most powerful force being the only thing remains, resonating with atheist beliefs
- alliteration emphasises the desolation surrounding, power of nature and how man’s power fleets
- creates vast juxtaposition with statue
- subject switches from Ozy to mankind that it is not just Ozy who will be lost but everyone and everything
- his long lasting legacy is supposed to be immortalised through the statue, and this imagery encapsulates the insignificance of human endeavours in time/nature
Structure
Mix between Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet - ironic as he was not loved nor respected, mockery
No conventional rhyme scheme - perhaps love of nature, organic rhyme
Second hand account which suggests lack of importance and power
Disrupted iambic pentameter
Context
Romantic poet - elevated view of nature
An atheist expelled from Oxford for circulating atheist pamphlets
Anti-establishment, political views inspired by French Revolution
Ozymandias is King Ramesses II of Egypt
Inspired by recent unearthing of part of a large statue by British Museum Exhibit in 19th Century
Overview
Shelley uses his poem ‘Ozymandias’ as a means to bring attention to the fleeting power of political leaders, in favour of the all-encompassing strength of the natural world. Being a romantic poet, Shelley’s elevated view of nature is apparent within the poem as he ridicules the former Egyptian pharaoh.
