Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley Flashcards
Structure
Part Petrarchan, part Shakespearean sonnet
Rhyme scheme: ABABACDC, EDEFEF
Slant rhyme
Themes
Power of nature
Importance
Context
Sonnets are usually written for love but in this case it is self-love
Poem inspired by the 1821 requisition of the Ramses II statue by the British museum but it is also somewhat inspired by King George III
The poet is the husband of Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein)
He held famously anti-monarchist and ant-establishment views
Another Romantic poet
Ozymandias
Greek for Ramasses the Great / Ramses II
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
The poem opens in a ‘travelling tale’ mode which acts as a hook to the reader. The speaker is telling a story that someone else told them, making them barely present in the poem. The ’antique land’ that is referred to is likely to be Egypt as Ramasses was an Egyptian pharaoh. The fact that the statute is now just ‘two vast and trunkless legs of stone’ suggest a lack of heart due to the statue having no body. Also, a lack of connection between his body and brain suggests he has presence but no intellect
Stand in the desert … Near them, on the sand
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, who’s frown
The ‘visage’ is his face which now lays shattered on the sand. The fact that only half of his face is shown perhaps highlights his somewhat duplicitous nature and like the ’sand’, his power crumbles with time. The sibilance of ‘s’ help provide the lines with a sort of aural effect, enchanting the reader
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
The contrast between the hot desert and his ‘sneer of cold command’ highlights his haughtiness, helped by the use of the alliterative hard c’s in the phrase ‘cold command’. It’s somewhat ironic that he was so desperate to remembered that he built a statue but it is the sculptor that is praised
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things
Despite the statue eroding, distinct images of power still remain however it is ironic that such powerful features are ‘stamped’ on a broken depiction. However, the verb ‘stamped’ has a sort of grim finality to it as all that is left is 1 man’s depiction of another
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
Mock holds a double meaning as it could mean to either imitate or parody someone. The phrase ‘heart that fed’ is again quite ironic as he took everything and gave nothing. Also, there is a large contrast between the ‘heart’ that represents emotion and the ‘hand’ which is seen as mechanical.
The next line (line 10) is the volta
My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
These lines hold a bold, powerful statement. The phrase ‘king of kings’ could be biblical reference suggesting he sees himself as a God and the phrase ‘ye, Mighty’ stands to increase the mystique of the poem. There is again more irony as he tells other to ‘despair’ yet it is his kingdom that has disappeared into nothing, showing how nothing is permanent including his power. The whole poem is in iambic pentameter apart from the 1st phrase
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level stands stretch far away
The conclusion of the poem contrasts the myth of permanence as the poet shows that nothing is eternal, especially not power. The short phrase on the 1st line juxtaposes the previous couplet. The poet also adopts a tone of contempt as uses this poem as an allegory to lecture readers on the dangers of power. The phrase ‘colossal wreck’ could be interpreted as the wreck of his civilisation whilst his statue still somewhat remains. The poet uses the sublime to show the power of nature over everything
Whys
Shelley condemns the exploitation of power, where rulers commit acts of depravity and despotism for personal gain.
Shelley warns against hubris and vanity, emphasising that pride often comes before a fall.
Shelley emphasises that human power is transitory, with nature superseding and ultimately obliterating all human constructs.
In keeping with his belief that poets are the ‘unacknowledged legislators of the world’, Shelley heralds the power of art, and its ability to prevail when all else becomes a distant memory.
