Ozymandias Flashcards
Two vast and trunkless…
legs of stone
Half shatter’d…
visage lies
“Lies” has a double meaning - he may have lied to the workers by saying kind things so that he could get what he wanted
Sneer of…
cold command
“sneer” makes it seem almost as though Ozymandias is mocking people that see him, even though he is not there anymore so that he is able to exert his power over people he does not know even when he is no longer alive
Its sculptor well…
those passions read
The sculptor may have seen that Ramesses II was cruel so he decided to portray him in two ways: scary, which is what Ozymandias would have wanted; cruel, so that people could see what he was really like
The hand that mocked them,…
the heart that fed
“Heart that fed” can be interpreted in two ways: he had a kind heart or he fed on the fear of the civilians. The latter interpretation is more likely as it fits with the portrayal of Ramesses II. This is evidenced by “mocked” which may mean that he ridiculed his civilians.
Look on my works…
…and despair
Ironic as there is nothing remains anymore. Suggests that nothing great was actually achieved.
Round the decay/…
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
Ramesses II may have believed that he is extremely powerful, but nature is more powerful. Shelley’s criticism of the power that rulers have comes through here as he shows that no matter how powerful one thinks they are, there is always a greater, more powerful force or person than them.
The lone and level…
sands stretch far away
Gives idea that nature has consumed the empire and that there is nothing left. Great civilization and empire will one day fade away as power does not last forever.
Reputation and power are no match for the power of nature and time.
Written as a sonnet and uses iambic pentameter
Use of enjambment
No rhyme scheme
Represents the control that there is, but Shelley chose the format, so it is as if he is trying to take power away from Ramesses.
The use of enjambment allows the poem to freely flow and allows a natural flow which shows again that nature has dictation and there is an element of nature in everything
