Ozymandias Flashcards
What is it about
Describes the ruined statue, found in a desert of a once great and powerful king
Who is the poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley
What are the themes
Nature Power Travel Identity Art Ambition Time Change
What’s the structure
Written as a sonnet though it does not follow a regular rhyme scheme. Lambic pentameter
What does the poem show
Shows even huge ‘invincible’ things can be reduced to nothing. All humans face death and decay
‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone sand in the desert’
The rest of the statue has been destroyed. Shows his power may of been huge but there was no substance to it, it soon faded away. Shows the isolation of the statue.
‘Half sunk, a shattered visage lies’
Negative description. Nature has eroded and destroyed this symbol of human power. Suggests the natural environment will always outlast any human settlement. Reminding us of our mortality
‘Sneer of cold command’
Suggesting pride- no sympathy
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: looks on my works, ye mighty and despair!’
Best of all- religious links- comparing himself to God. Talking to other pharaohs.
‘Nothing besides remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck’
Emptiness, decay, all is gone. Nothing to look at- giant wreck. Even the mightiest will fall
