Ozymandias Flashcards
Pride
The ruler was proud of what he achieved.
“Look at my works, ye mighty, and despair”
Arrogance
The inscription shows how he believed he was the most powerful leader. He thought he was better than those he ruled.
“King of Kings”
He is now irrelevant
Paradoxical language
Finite vs Infinite
- he thought he would live together but his time is finished. The statue is broken and no one remembers him
Vast vs Trunkless
-he used to be a powerful man but now has fallen and is forgotten
Practical vs emotional
-“which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things”
“The hand that mocked them and the heart hat fed”
Power
His power isn’t permanent. He believes that no one is better than him
“Sneer of cold command”
Form
Traditional sonnet
Irregular rhyme scheme shows the deterioration of statue
It is a second account - detaches the reader
“I met a traveller from an antique land”
Structure
Ends with talking about the desert
“Lone and level sands stretch away”
Shows insignificance of statue and unimportance of human existence
Nature
Statue has been ruined by nature
Context
Shelley was a romantic poet
He focused on power of nature
He dislikes monarchies and oppression of normal people
