Ozymandias Flashcards
Half sunk, shattered visage lies
Hated, infamous
Despair!
Contemptuous
Exclamatory
Uncaring
Form
Petrarchan Sonnet -> (volta in line 9) ironic, commemorates the loss of a tyrannical ruler. Could allude to his arrogance? Or the joy over his death?
Caesura and enjambement used frequently, gives poem a disjointed rhythm (symbolises the destroyed statue and the temporary nature of power)
Irregular rhyme scheme (not typical of a sonnet) shows the temperamental nature of Ozymandias’ power, solidifies the temporary nature of power, returns with his demise -> symbolises the natural order returning after his tyranny
Second-hand account shows distance - humanity has distanced from it, highlights his fall from Grace as he is no longer relevant
Iambic pentameter is often disrupted
Structure
Cyclical fluctuations between descriptions of Ozymandias as powerful then powerless - ore St’s the moral that power is temporary and that nature is more powerful than humanity’s influence
Ending the poem by describing the vastness of the desert after describe the minutiae of the statue emphasise humanity’s irrelevance compared to nature
Framed as a story exemplifies Ozymandias’ irrelevance
Language
Semantic field of destruction and decay
half sunk, a shattered visage lies,
Hated, infamous
Ironic - even a powerful human can’t control the effect on time
wrinkled lip, a sneer of cold command
Facial imagery shows his contempt
Alliteration shows his temperamentality
King of kings
Repetition shows vanity and hubris
Does not fit into the rhyme scheme ; volta
The fact that it’s the volta could symbolise that was the turning point in Ozymandias’ life - when he became so hubristic he believed himself invincible
Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!
imperative shows arrogance- commanding god. Stressed first syllable emphasises this
Personal pronoun - pride
Capital m - biblical allusion - alludes to his disruption of nature and his attempted deification. Ultimate hubris - he believe is more powerful than god
Exclamatory phrase- contemptuous and uncaring
Colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands
Juxtaposition - illustrates his monumental fall from Grace
Plosives are reminiscent of his imperative command, but are ironic as they emphasise decay and barren nature of the land
Alliteration shows time passing and how nature prevails
Human achievements are insignificant compared to the passing of time
Context
Romantic poet -> Victorian era -> obsession with antiques and distant lands
Idealism, time, nature, the past
Attempt to deify Ozymandias through statue
Egyptian?
Use of irony connotes Shelley’s radical nature and disgust towards oppression and monachies of absolute power and belief in overturning social and political order. He was inspired by the French Revolution
Vast and trunkless legs of stone
Ironic - attempt to make it impressive but it’s incomplete state
Mocked
Literally make a likeness
Ridicule -> he was hated
Survive
Lifeless
Juxtaposition
Art can outlast human power, but art can’t immortalise power
Ozymandias’ desperation for recognition lives on respire his irrelevancy -irony
“Antique land’
Emphasis time passed
Antiques are normally valuable - there is a valuable lesson about power and arrogance to be learned here
Vague description of land alludes to the inherent arrogance that accompanies power
