Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley Flashcards
Who is the speaker in the poem?
The speaker meets an unknown ‘traveller’ who has journeyed from a land far away and tells the speaker his story
What is the poem about?
On his travels he came across a ruined and broken statue in the desert. The statue was once a huge monument to Ozymandias (Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II) who was a tyrannical and harsh ruler
Why?
poem shows loss of power over time and natures impact
Context
Percy Bysshe Shelley was a romantic poet and wrote a lot about the power of nature
Shelley was considered to be a ‘radical’ and Ozymandias reflects this side of his character. He is writing about the dangers of thinking you are invincible.
Structure
The poem is a sonnet, although it mixes the two main types of sonnet forms - this could show the broken nature of the statue and Ozymandias’ rule
The majority of the poem is through the voice of the ‘traveller’. As it has no stanzas it is like a story being told by travellers.
Opening line
‘I met a traveller from an antique land’
opens in the first person as the speaker tells of a “traveller” he has met.
The use of the adjective “antique” suggests the land he is visiting is rich with history.
Final line
‘The lone and level sands stretch far away’
suggest how the broken statue is a monument to the man’s hubris
the verb ‘stretch’ suggest that nature will outlast man and humanity - our place on this earth is only temporary and is no match for our natural environment and time
Comment on the title
The title refers to Rameses II, an Egyptian Pharaoh who was known for being a tyrant
‘Two vast and trunkless’ analysis
Statue is ‘vast’ but also trunkless – shows his power may have been huge but there was no substance to it, it soon faded away.
What does the setting show?
‘the desert’
the noun ‘desert’ and ‘sand’ show the isolation of the statue in its environment
‘Half sunk..
..a shattered visage lies’
Analysis on ‘sunk a shattered’
The verbs ‘sunk’ and ‘shattered’ show nature has eroded and destroyed this symbol of human power.
This suggests the natural environment will always outlast any human settlement, reminding us of our own mortality; even the most powerful kings will turn to dust
Analyse ‘And wrinkled lip’
the adjectives in ‘winkled lip’ and ‘cold command’ give an evil impression of Ozymandias as a ruler
What words appear on the pedestal?
‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;/Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Analyse ‘My name is Ozymandias’
The words on the pedestal are Ozymandias’ own inflated opinion of himself.
Analysis on ‘Look on my Works, ye mighty, and despair!’
The imperatives here show Ozymandias’ commanding style. The verb ‘despair’ shows he wanted his subjects and enemies to view him with fear and envy.
The irony is that there is nobody in the desert to view the crumbling statue.
What do the nouns ‘decay’ and ‘wreck’ symbolise?
symbolise the legacy of Ozymandias, nothing but crumbling stone that is turning to dust. The oxymoron “colossal wreck” suggests the fragile nature of human power
