Percy Bysshe Shelley Ozymandias Ode to the West Wind To a Skylark

Biographical Information Better known for his shocking domestic life and opinion than his writing. Convinced that human thought and expression had the power to change life for the better. At age 19 he eloped with Harriet Westbrook (16) to rescue her from her tyrannical father Left her three years later

Biographical Information Cont. Ran away with Mary Godwin (17) met Lord Byron First wife drowned herself in a pond = denied custody of kids = free to marry Mary – publication of Adonais (elegy on death of Keats) 1822 – drowned when his sailboat got caught in a storm at age 29.

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Background This poem was written as part of a friendly and informal competition with John Keats. Ozymandias is the Greek name for Rames II (ruled B.C.). He left monuments all over Egypt, including the temples of Karnak and Luxor. He is thought to be the pharoah who contended with Moses at the time of the Hebrew’s exodus from Egypt.

Vocabulary Trunkless legs Visage Legs without the body face

Read the Poem

Re-reading Why do you think Shelley never names the traveler? What inferences can you make about Ozymandias based on the statue’s expression and the inscription on its base? How does the setting described in lines add to the irony of this inscription?

Re-reading What are the passions captured in Ozymandias’s “visage”? How many speakers are heard in this poem? What is the speaker’s message about pride? Whom is it intended for? Can this poem apply to any contemporary figures who wield political power?

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Getting Ready to Read Write about an experience you have had with nature. Describe the scene and your emotions.

Background This poem was provoked by watching an oncoming storm near Florence, Italy. Marks a period in Shelley’s life after a period of intense grief over the death of his three year old son.

Read the Poem

Re-reading What examples of apostrophe can you find in the first line? What effect does this figure of speech have? Lines 14&28: The speaker talks directly to the wind. What request does he keep making? Lines 38-42: How does the poet describe the wind’s effect on the sea?

Re-reading Section V: What request does the speaker make of the wind? How does the speaker’s view of himself change in this section? Identify the rhyme scheme of each section. Is it the same for each section? Which lines of this poem can be connected with the grief of a parent who has just seen a child die? What comfort does the parent find?

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Getting Ready to Read The skylark in this poem is symbolic of something much larger than life. As you read the poem, think about what the skylark may symbolize.

Read the Poem

Re-reading Lines 2-5: How does the poet explain his assertion that the skylark was never a bird? Why would he make this claim? Lines 36-55: What is the speaker suggesting about himself as a poet? How are the similes here related? What do they show about the skylark and the speaker?

Re-reading Lines 71-75: Why does the speaker choose to use a string of rhetorical questions here? Lines 86-90: What is the speaker saying in these lines? Do you agree? These lines are the most quoted in English poetry. Do you see these lines reflected in your life? How?

Re-reading What words or phrases in the last two stanzas help you to imagine the skylark’s song? What does the skylark symbolize to the speaker? Find lines from the poem to support your interpretation. What lines/passage in the poem seem to reflect the Romantic’s esteem for spontaneity in poetry?