‘Ozymandias’

Ozymandias I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear -- "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.' Glossary antique – ancient visage – face pedestal – the supporting base of the statue

He had studied ancient Greek which is probably why he chose the name ‘Ozymandias’, an ancient Greek version of one of Ramses II’s Egyptian names. The famous Egyptian pharaoh was born around 1303BC and is thought to have lived to be about 90 years old. He was a great warrior and commissioned numerous statues, palaces and temples to be built to symbolise his divine power, insisting that all engravings were so deep that they could not be changed. It was important to Ramses for his legacy to survive the ravages of time. The base of one sculpture reads: ‘If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass one of my works.’ Percy Bysshe Shelley Born in Sussex in 1792 Died aged 29; he was drowned at sea in Italy. He is a Romantic poet.

What happens? Writing in the first person, the poet begins by putting the narrative into the voice of a traveller, who describes the shattered remains of a great Egyptian pharoah’s statue. Although the inscription on the pedestal shows Ozymandias was a powerful, vain ruler who wished to be immortalised by the ‘works’ he left behind, no amount of wealth or prestige can halt the effects of time and nature. All that is left of his great empire are desert sands.

Structure The poem is an Italian sonnet, the fourteen line divided into eight lines and six lines, with two different rhyme patterns. This form is often chosen for love poetry, but in this case a theme of self-love leads only to thwarted ambition and decay. The iambic pentameter combines with the tight sonnet form to make the ironic message concise and powerful. Shelley distances himself from the poem by putting the storytelling into the mouth of ‘a traveller’.

Ozymandias’s magnificent civilisation is reduced to two stone legs and a broken face PMA First person pronoun I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. Symbolism Colon – begins his speech Caesura Alliteration of harsh consonants show a lack of emotion such as kindness Listing PMA Synecdoche ‘Heart’ of the sculptor who has to feed the king’s excessive passions. Or, the heart of Ozymanidas feeding his obsession for power and fame perhaps? The ‘hand’ or skill of the sculptor is able to depict the tyrant’s true megalomania.

FC And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.' Imperative verb… Dialogue - inscription Reinforces the destruction and emptiness His achievements to keep his reputation immortal have been defeated by time and nature PMA Alliteration Lexical field of…? Polyphonic – many speakers

How does the writer present the theme of power How does the writer present the theme of power? In Ozymandias, Shelley presents the theme of power by using a symbol of a fallen statue. He immediately tells us that there are ‘two vast and trunkless legs of stone,’ in the desert. The pre-modifying adjectives ‘vast’ and ‘trunkless’ highlight to us that the statue was once majestic, but is now broken. This suggests that Shelley believes power does not last, as the statue is not the grand spectacle it used to be. This is further emphasised when he says ‘Half sunk, a shattered visage lies,’ suggesting that the statue is not fully visible. The use of synecdoche here is a symbol for fallen power. The statue’s ‘visage’ is ‘shattered,’ demonstrating that his power has been destroyed as it is no longer possible to see the face of the former ruler.

How does the writer present the theme of power How does the writer present the theme of power? In Ozymandias, Shelley presents the theme of power by using a symbol of a fallen statue. He immediately tells us that there are ‘two vast and trunkless legs of stone,’ in the desert. The pre-modifying adjectives ‘vast’ and ‘trunkless’ highlight to us that the statue was once majestic, but is now broken. This suggests that Shelley believes power does not last, as the statue is not the grand spectacle it used to be. This is further emphasised when he says ‘Half sunk, a shattered visage lies,’ suggesting that the statue is not fully visible. The use of synecdoche here is a symbol for fallen power. The statue’s ‘visage’ is ‘shattered,’ demonstrating that his power has been destroyed as it is no longer possible to see the face of the former ruler. Red = AO1 Blue = AO2

Final thoughts… When this poem was first published, an English reader would most probably have seen comparisons between Ozymandias and Napoleon Bonaparte. Two years previously, the French Emperor (considered a tyrant by all his opponents) has made himself conqueror and ruler of almost all of Europe before his defeat at Waterloo in 1815. Most recently we might think about Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini or Saddam Hussein. It is the sculptor’s art that has lasted, not the power of Ozymandias. Could Shelly be suggesting that art and language can outlast human beings and the results of the megalomania? Ironically, many people know about this pharaoh only because of this poem.