Ozymandias Flashcards
Ideas about the title
Just his name, no description suggesting everyone may be expected to know who he is as he’s so powerful. Tells reader straight away who the poem is off
Context about Shelley
Romantic poet focussing more on emotion rather than reason. He tried to capture his experiences in his worms and focused particularly on the power of nature. He disliked monarchies with absolute power that caused the suffering of their people
I met a traveller from an antique land. What does this show
Shelley hasn’t actually seen the statue, showing how unimportant ozymandias has become. The speaker isn’t Shelley but the traveller is and he is speaking to Shelley
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone, what does this show
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone emphasise the size of the stature but also show it is incomplete. The power of nature has crippled the statue to ruins, nature is more powerful than ozymandias ever was
Stand in the desert. What does this show
Desert highlights the lack of life in the surroundings of the statue. Everyone has left ozymandiass kingdom and nothing is there to maintain his statue
Shattered visage what does this show
Shatter’d visage further adds to the idea that no matter how powerful ozymandias was, he could never overcome the power of time and nature. Even his face is ruined. Shatter’d personifies the nature as if it came and hit it with a hammer, even nature detested him
Sneer of cold command what does this show
The sculpter understood the arrogance and unkindness of ozymandias. Command suggests he liked order like the military, maybe he was like a bully of tyrant. Sneer creates an evil image, adding to the idea of him being cruel and nasty
Survive and lifeless
These words are on the same lines, this shows how art, the statue, may be able to outlive human lives but will never outlive nature and time and can’t immortalise power like ozy wanted it to
“My name is ozymandias king oh kings, look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
He is clearly very proud of what he thought he had achieved however, there is nothing around him which shows he isn’t God, and just another man. King of kings suggests he is saying he is god, all powerful but as seen before, he was nothing special
The decay of that colossal wreck
Shows how human achievements are insignificant against time. Wreck further suggests it has been deliberately destroyed, perhaps by god to show no one but he is king of kings
Lone and level
Alliteration of l emphasises the empty space of the desert and the surroundings of the statue
Boundless and bare
No settlements to be seen, people have long since left his kingdom
What is ozymandias about
A traveller who Shelley met who describes a statue he stood in front of. The statue is of a king who ruled a long gone civilisation. He is proud and arrogant and wants to show of to future generations his achievments. However, everything around him is gone and his statue has crumbled away and all that’s left is ruins
What is the form
It’s a sonnet however, it doesn’t follow the regular theme. This could be to show how human power is unstable and can be destroyed. Also maybe to disobey ozymandiass love for order and command
Structure
Most of the poem is about the statue and builds an image of the different parts of it. However, the dénuement is about the vast size of the desert to show the insignificance of the statue
