Ozymandias

Allegory

The statue in the poem, broken and falling apart in the desert with nobody to care is an allegory of Ozymandias and of every powerful man or woman, the idea that they will also drift away until they are just another grain of sand

How does Shelley frame the poem?

"I met a traveller from an antique land" He frames the poem as a story to make it clear that the narrator hasn't even seen the statue himself, he's only heard about it. This emphasises how unimportant Ozymandias is now.

What can power lead to, and what highlights this?

Power can lead to isolation - "The lone and level sands stretch far away."

"antique land"

Suggests the place is old and steeped in history, but also it may be out of date and old-fashioned

Changing empires

Symbols of one empire become the monuments of another

"stretch far away"

The desert is vast and survives far longer than the broken statue, emphasising the insignificance of the statue and of Ozymandias

'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

-"king of kings", God, arrogant and powerful (he even challenged other rulers) -having a stressed syllable at the start of the line heightens Ozymandias' tone of command -he did this himself, why did nobody else speak of his glory instead? -insecure that his power wouldn't last -irony (he tells other rulers to despair because of the size and grandeur of his works, but in fact they should despair because their power is temporary and ultimately unimportant, like his) -the tone, indicated by the exclamation is strong and authoritative, irony is that nobody is listening

"lone and level sands"

-alliteration, emphasises the feeling of empty space in the surrounding desert -they outlast the statue, juxtaposed to the power and ego of Ozymandias -sands are also iconic of time

"Stand in the desert."

-caesura -the setting suggests an absence of life and vitality

"The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed"

-contrasting -mock can mean to ridicule, or to create a likeness of something, perhaps the sculptor intended his statue to make fun of Ozymandias -implies both power and a kindness

The author's personal views

-critical of power being with the institutions -critical of the royal family and monarchical government in England and sympathised with the ideals behind the French Revolution -Ozymandias has been read by some as a condemnation of undemocratic or tyrannical government, reflecting Shelley's radical views -Shelley was well-known as a radical during his lifetime and some people think Ozymandias reflects this side of his character. Although it is about the remains of a statue of Ozymandias, it can be read as a criticism of people or systems that become huge and believe themselves to be invincible.

"sneer of cold command"

-detached -callous when you say them -evokes images of tyrants -the sculptor understood the arrogance of the ruler -suggests character is powerful and arrogant (ironic now there's nothing left) -synaesthesia

"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone"

-empasises size and stature, but also shows that the statue is incomplete -the statue is barely standing, the rest is ruined and missing (suggesting that it's being eaten away by time and the desert, a futile struggle to survive where nobody is around to care" -supposed to eternalise him, but symbolise transient power

No match for the power of nature

-nature has damaged it -the desert is vast and survives far longer than the broken statue

"colossal wreck"

-oxymoron -illuminates the paradox -juxtaposition -the ruined statue shows how human achievements are insignificant compared to the passing of time -metaphor for his ego rather than the statue

The creation of power

-power is created by other people, and if they reject it, it doesn't exist (like a revolution)

"Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things"

-seems inconsequential -having "survive" and "lifeless" on the same line hints at how art can outlast human power, but the ruined statue shows that ultimately art can't immortalise power

"Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies"

-sensory quality -lost to nature -ironic, even a powerful human can't control the damaging effects of time -broken face, it's unrecognisable, a statue to someone and we can no longer tell who, has no purpose anymore

Link to 'My Last Duchess'

-the image of Ozymandias is very astute -oppressive and controlling -she preferred nature over his power/name

The poem is about: man's naivety

-to be humble and accept his own limitations (he tries to lorde himself above nature) -consequences of arrogant thinking

"boundless and bare"

-unity of those words strengthens the message

Structure

-written in a sonnet with loose iambic pentameter -sonnets were generally popular romantic or love poems, perhaps this being a love poem about Ozymandias, a joke about the ruler's ego, or simply to capture the romantic and exotic tone of a lost legend -14 lines long -doesn't follow the strict rules of the sonnet, broken sonnet (like the statue), unconventional -sonnets are seen as restrictive on poetry -crumbled statue, broken sonnet form, suggest a revolution -the rhyme scheme is irregular, perhaps symbolic of the broken statue itself, not perfect

What kind of poet is the writer?

A romantic poet. They believed in emotion rather than reason, and particularly focused on the power of nature.

Power can't be kept forever

Even though something of the statue remains, nobody is around to acknowledge his power/honour him

Context - The author's family life

He came from a wealthy family and was in line to inherit both riches and his grandfather's role as an MP. He went to Eton College and then Oxford. He was expelled from university for writing about atheism, which led to him falling out with his father, who disinherited him. In the same year, he eloped and married (aged 19). His bride was 16. They moved to the Lake District where he continued to write.

Context - Ozymandias

Ozymandias is another name for one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs - Ramses II or Ramses the Great. He was a warrior king and a builder of temples, statues and monuments. The waning years of the rule of his father (Seti I) had left the country in a weakened state. Ramses corrected this by securing and adequate water supply for the gold-mining expeditions to and from the Wadi el-Allaqi in Lower Nubia. The early part of his reign was dominated by several wars with the Hittites over the dominance of Syria. This ended with the Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty. In his later life, he became known for his expansive building activity, and his proclivity for erecting immense monuments of himself - in some cases even removing the cartouche's of previous pharaohs and recreating them in his own appearance. Of these constructs, the most extravagant is the Ramesseum, his memorial temple. The massive Abu Simbel temple, carved from a mountainside in commemoration for his victory at the Battle of Kadesh, are also a testament to the extravagance of his rule, and his own opinion of himself as a living god. The Egyptian pharaohs like Ramses believed themselves to be gods in mortal form and that their legacy would last forever.

Who is the author?

Percy Bysshe Shelley