A Broken King

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English Romantic poet that is very well-known for his classic poetry, such as the poem “Ozymandias.”

 In this poem Shelley’s radical political standing is demonstrated through the theme of the poem. It is a narrative poem because it tells a story through three voices. The narrators voice is only seen in the first line, but then he quotes a traveller to portray a scene of a desert to show what was left of the King Ozymandias. However, we truly understand who he is when he is cited in the poem. The poem refers to a broke statue that has a pedestal that reads: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

The traveler comes across a sculpture of a once powerful king that has been destroyed, and there is nothing but debris surrounding it. An image is created of the scenery and the reader can imagine what the traveler has seen. 

This King Ozymandias was clearly high headed, and wanted others to fear him. However, he has nothing standing near him. Nothing to strengthen him or fix him. As said in the poem "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone" the king can't even support or stand on his own two legs. 

We can gather from the poem that pride and power can break us. It is apparent that this once smug king thought he had it all. It says that he wore a “sneer.” He now is surrounded by a "colossal wreck." Not exactly how we imagine a great king to be. 

The brokenness that occurs of pride and power can be shown through some of the enjambment phrases found in the poem. Many of the thoughts are not ended, but are lead onto the next line. Demonstrating even more than just the statue has been broken. The poem leaves us with a sense of nothingness and even loneliness.

Other observations: 

• I felt as if the poem could be divided into two parts. The first to eighth line sets a scene, and the 9^th to 14^th line we come to fully understand what the traveller saw.
• There is a few examples of alliteration such as “the Lone and Level Sands Stretch” among others found in the poem.
• Other than the 1^st  and 10^th line that have 11 syllables, the rest consist of 10 syllables.
• The rhyme sequence was a little strange but usually the end word had a rhyming match.

1 land

2 stone

3 sand

4 frown
5 command
6 read
7 things
8 fed
9 appear
10 king
11 despair
12 decay
13 bare
14 away

1, 3, 5: eye rhyme
6, 8 slant rhyme
7, 10 eye rhyme
11, 13 slant rhyme
12, 14 slant rhyme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley

image from: http://genius.com/Percy-bysshe-shelley-ozymandias-annotated