Ozymandias Structure Flashcards
What style of poem is Ozymandias?
Sonnet
Because Ozymandias is a sonnet, how many lines does that mean it has?
14
Ozymandias combines elements of which two major sonnet types?
Petrarchan
Shakespearean
What are sonnets typically about?
Love
State 2 ways in which Ozymandias is about love
Leaders love themselves
Humans love power
Describe Shelley’s rhyme scheme in Ozymandias
An original fusion of his own and Shakespearean rhyme scheme.
Only first quatrain follows the Shakespearean sonnet ABAB rhyme scheme
Completely disregards the Petrarchan sonnet ABBA rhyme scheme
Which element of a Shakespearean sonnet does Shelley use?
The first quatrain follows Shakespeare’s ABAB rhyme scheme
Which element of a Petrarchan sonnet does Shelley use?
It is broken into an octave and sestet with the ninth line acting as a volta to introduce another perspective (that of Ozymandias himself)
What is significant about Shelley’s rejection of conventional sonnet form in regards to time and freedom?
He demonstrates that not even sonnet structure remains constant and by extension illustrates the ultimate transient nature of all human constructs, especially rulers and institutional leaders (e.g. religion and the monarchy).
He also demonstrates the freedom in art, contrary to strict control under tyrannical rule.
What is the name of a sonnet’s first 8 lines?
Octave
What is the name of a sonnet’s last 6 lines?
Sestet
Give the name for the ninth line of a Petrarchan sonnet
Volta
What is the rhyme scheme of Ozymandias’ 1st quatrain?
ABAB
What does the sestet of Ozymandias do?
Display the perspective of Ozymandias himself and reveal the irony of reality and the inevitability of his downfall which he was too arrogant to acknowledge in his life
In which meter is Ozymandias written?
Iambic pentameter
In which 3 ways does Ozymandias conform to sonnet structure?
Iambic pentameter
14 lines
Octave, volta and sestet
Why might Shelley still employ some sonnet features?
In order for it to be distinguishable as one thus heightening awareness of it’s dismissal of wider convention.
What does Shelley juxtapose the freedom of art (his ability to break conventional poem structure) with?
The restriction of “cold”, tyrannical rule
