ozymandias Flashcards
who was it written by and some brief life info?
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817)
A great Romantic poet
A radical, anti-authoritarian thinker of the time
died aged 29 and wasn’t appreciated until after death
expelled for being an atheist
what is the form and structure like?
In the form of a sonnet but the rhyme scheme is unusual for a sonnet of that time.
The poem is written in pentameter.
what are the key themes?
Hubris - the excessive pride of man. The poem is an extended metaphor on this theme.
Human power vs. natural power - all works of humankind will eventually become history. Only the power of nature is true.
The lasting impact of art and language - Shelley’s poem, as a work of art, outlasts human civilisation – it is the greatest relic of Ozymandias’s legacy as the statue he built of himself did not survive.
what is the historical and literary context?
Historical Context: The poem was inspired by contemporary archaeological discoveries in Egypt. Ozymandias was another name for the great pharaoh Rameses II.
Shelley’s ridicule of the statue was in part a veiled condemnation of the monarchical government of George III. His focus on decay as the ultimate destiny of authoritarian rule was an oblique warning that Britain could expect the same if it did not change its ways. (Post French and American revolutions.)
Literary Context: A key Romantic poet, Shelley was one of the anti-authoritarian radical thinkers of his time (he was expelled from Oxford for atheism).
He thought poets “the unacknowledged legislators of the world” - through their work they make/write history.
quote 1: ‘I met a traveller from an antique land’ what could you say about this?
hearing about the statue from an unknown traveller’s perspective creates a sense of mystery and legend. Adjective ‘antique’ means something ancient and possessing value.
quote 2: ‘Sneer of cold command’ what could you say about this?
Sneer has connotations of arrogance and alliteration stresses the king’s heartlessness.
quote 3:‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/ stand in the desert’ what could you say about this?
emphatic adjective indicates the the king possessed great power. But it is without a torso and is inferior to nature’s power.
quote 4: ‘Half sunk a shattered visage lies’ what could you say about this?
the evocative adjective reflects how the Pharaoh’s empire and reputation have been destroyed.
quote 5: ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings/ Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’ what could you say about this?
the inscription on the statue is ironic as the work is now a ruin. Illustrates how humanity and masculinity cannot compete with nature. The exclamation point adds to his arrogance.
quote 6: ‘Round the decay/ of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away’ what could you say about this?
the endless stretch of sand can be seen as symbolic of history and human life seems insignificant in comparison. Alliteration in the final two lines emphasises how isolated the statue is.
