Ozymandias Flashcards
Form:
Sonnet- unified unlike the statue
- Octave in the first 9 lines
- Sestet last 6 lines
- Turning point line 9
- Doesn’t follow regular sonnet rhyme representing human power & structure can be destroyed
- Written in iambic pentameter which is often disrupted
- Second hand account which distances the reader from the king
Structure
Narrator describes the statue by focusing on different parts of it
-Poem ends by describing the “enormous desert” sums up the insignificance of the statue
Irony
Shelley use of irony is suggested through the ruler & his belief that it is possible to overturn social & political order
Language of power
Power is suggested through Ozymandias representing human power, his power is lost & is only due to the power of art.
Angry language
The tyranny of the ruler is suggested through aggressive language
Rhymes
- Start of the poem rhymes eg: “ sand, land, stand -command” give a sense of power & force.
- End of the poem rhymes eg: “ decay & away give a sense of loss, emptiness & finality
Enjambment
last 3 lines of the poem which mirrors the endless sand & the solidarity of the statue
Punctuation
Helps make the poem flow
Key points
-Poem is an extended metaphor- doesn’t matter how arrogant/proud a person may
Be nature & time will always have greater power & will always destroy them.
-Plosive alliteration: “ cold command”- adds to the sense that the pharaoh was an
Aggressive man
-Sentence length: “ nothing besides remains” the fact that three simple words stand alone reflect the idea of the statue being reduced to virtually nothing, isolated
Attitude, themes, ideas
- Even the mightiest will fall: Ozymandias thought his works would last forever and would be above everyone else’s. Not true. Nothing is left intact and his own statue is in ruins.
- You can’t beat time. Even a king dies and so will all the things he has built.
- Pride comes before a fall. Ozymandias’ boasts about his own greatness seem very hollow now.
- The power of art and words. The only thing that does last is part of the statue and the powerful words on the inscription.
Form:
- Dramatic monologue
- First person narrator speaks passionately and personally and also makes them feel as though they are sharing the journey
- The abab rhyme scheme in unbroken and seems to echo the relentless misery of the city
- the use of real time london setting enables the reader as though they are gaining first hand impression
Structure
-4 stanzas of 4 lines each, ( quatrains ) reflects the regular walking pace of the narrator
-The narrator presents images of deprived downtrodden people
- First two stanzas focuses on the people he sees and hears ( the misery )
-Third stanza focuses on the power of the riches, how the poor are sacrificed for the riches
“Chimney sweepers” is a emotive language for child labour
Last stanza focuses has a oxymoron and juxtaposes which is with the joy of marriage life is with the misery of death. Blake is suggesting that society has destroyed every good thing l in life and how the infants would be affected by the situation, also poverty is corrupting.
-Last line in each stanza tends to deliver a strong image which sums up the rest of the stanza
Language:
- Narrator uses rhetoric language to persuade you his point of view
- He uses powerful emotive words and images to portray the horror of the situation
- Conveys bleak views of rules and restrictions
Repetition
- ”In every” shows the scale of suffering how multiple people not just one are affected
- ” Charter’d shows the streets/rivers are controlled by those with power
- ”s” creates fear which emphasises hopelessness
- sibilant “s” slows reader down adds feeling of horror
Synaesthesia
“ The sigh of the hopeless soldier:
This confuses sight & sound , makes point more vivid
This understands us that soldiers disquiet and desperation is translate to death & destruction
