Ozymandias of Egypt

Poem is a metaphor portraying the crumbling statue of Ozymandias Ozymandias’s works have crumbled and to temporary political power and it praises art’s ability to preserve disappeared, his civilization is gone, all has been the past. Alluding to the point that art and language outlast the turned to dust by the destructive power of history. legacies of power. Alternate name for Pharoah Ramses II Ozymandias Egypt Nostalgia makes this more of a story than a poem, from the “I” POV. assonance I met a traveller from an antique land, The traveller has not seen the statue for themself. bodyless huge Who said- “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert….Near them, on the sand, He made everyone believe if they did not act according to his will or command, he could have them punished. Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, This highlights his arrogance and his condescending alliteration Smug smile behaviour with others. Shows his pride as a ruler. And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, The sculptor had managed to carve the expressions of Ozymandias ruling perfectly in stone. The Tell that its sculptor well those passions read emotions still survive in the lifeless statue. alliteration Caesura breaks the meter and emphasises “stamp” IRONY: The passions have only outlived the living Which yet survive, stamped on the lifeless things, hand and heart because they are carved in lifeless Synecdoche of Ozymandias Objects of things. his hands show that the pharaoh mocked The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; “survive” his people, yet his heart was not all bad: he fed Volta And on the pedestal, these words appear: and cared for his people (sense of pity) The pharaoh believed that he was so powerful and the greatest of rulers. → Dichotomy. My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; The observers should not look upon the statue with admiration His enemies but should rather cower in fear when they observe him. They Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! must be aware of his powerful nature. IRONIC: these great works have collapsed and lie in ruins Nothing besides remains. Round the decay everywhere, and few can even remember who Ramses II was. Tone of pity alliteration face Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare alliteration The traveller almost seems to be mocking the ruler. The The lone and level sand stretch far away.” desert has intruded and destroyed even the last symbols of Sense of isolation. The sand is lacking vegetation and people. This was once a populated land during the time of the pharaoh. STRUCTURE: • • • • Petrarchan Sonnet with a Shakespearean rhyme scheme. The “broken” sonnet can be read as an echo of the broken statue that is being described. The shifting meter in the poem highlights the broken statue. The poem does not include what the speaker thought about the traveller, Ozymandias, or the broken statue. The speaker distances the reader from what is being told. the pharaoh's power. The poem’s theme emerges in these lines: all leaders will eventually pass, and all great civilizations will eventually turn to dust. There is an idea of faded glory.