Ozymandias By Percy Shelly Flashcards
Who wrote ozymandias
Percy bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
What POV is ozymandias written in
The poem begins in the first person, but then instantly passes any responsibility for the opinions within the poem on to a stranger
Who’s perspective is the poem written in
It is written in the perspective of a stranger whom the narrator has just met
What were Shelley’s intentions when writing this poem
Shelley was anti-monarchy and felt that the king at the time of writing, King George III, had outstayed his welcome
• Shelley probably wanted to distance himself from the political messages of the poem, so he opened his poem with the detached narrative of a traveller
• Shelley also used Ozymandias as an allegory for King George Ill. The detached narrator meant that Shelley was free to comment on the monarchy as he wished because the views were being presented as the views of someone else
What happens in lines 2-5 of ozymandias
The traveller tells of a ruined statue standing in the middle of the desert
• The statue is of a king, Ozymandias, who ruled over a once-great Egyptian civilisation
• Only the legs and the enormous face (the “ visage “) remain
• The traveller only describes the mouth, with a “frown”, “wrinkled lip” and “sneer of cold command”
What were Shelley’s intentions when writing lines 2-5
Shelley’s intentions were to create a sense of irony by saying that remains of this great and powerful ruler are legs and a “shattered” visage.
• This is ironic because Ozymandias’s power and pride were based on his image of being a great and powerful ruler, and yet now all that remains are broken parts of a statue.
What does the poem portray the king ozymandias as
The poem portrays a king who believed strongly in his own power and superiority, and who tried to immortalise his power through his statue
• The “frown”, “wrinkled lip” and “sneer” of cold command suggest the cruelty and heartlessness of the ruler, who was arrogant and had nothing but contempt for his subjects:
• This is reflective of Shelley’s own anti-military and anti-monarchy stance
• Yet this statue has now been destroyed by time, and the king has now become forgotten
What does the line “well those passions read” mean
It means that the sculptor could see beneath Ozymandias’s cold, commanding exterior to his passionate rage to “stamp” himself on the world
The line “The hand that mocked them” imply…
that the sculptor knew Ozymandias’s true and ultimately futile nature
What was Shelley’s intention when writing lines 6-8
The poem presents negative views about the power used to impose will
• It also comments on the arrogance and pride that can come from the type of tyrannical power in which the ruler wishes only to be known for his perceived greatness
What is written on the bottom of ozymandias’ pedestal and what does it show
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” It shows how arrogant he is by claiming that he is “King of Kings” and that he believes that he is all-powerful and cannot be defeated.
How does lines 9-11 show irony
irony here is that the statue is falling apart and decaying so that only the ruins remain
• The poet is showing how power deteriorates and does not last forever:
• Even great empires which seem to be eternal can fade to nothingness
What were Shelley’s intention on the last three lines
The power of the natural world is also evident in this poem
• Sand and the desert are used as a metaphor for the passing of time:
• They also suggest the impermanence of human constructions against the ultimate power of nature
In the last four lines of the poem it follows a more regular rhyme scheme what could this show
Order has been restored, more regular, nature has been restored
What is a sonnet
A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines
Ozymandias is written in iambic pentameter what is this
a rhythmic pattern that consists of ten syllables per line, with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables
Ozymandias is a sonnet written with what kind or rhyme scheme
An irregular rhyme scheme/ Petrarchan
A sonnet is a love poem, what love is there in this poem
Ozymandias has a love for himself
All lines have 10 syllables apart from line 10, why?
Ozymandias believes he’s powerful enough to disrupt normality
What does enjambment do in the poem ?
This creates an uneven pattern reflecting the broken nature of the statue, as well as the fact that nothing can last forever
What does the technique of caesura in line 3 do
the sonnet comes to a halt in the middle of the line
Shelley uses the caesura to represent the breaking up of the statue
What could be the overall point of the poem
That nature is all powerful
