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| Percy Bysshe Shelley |
“Ozmandias” is a short, peculiar poem written by Romanic-Era poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. One would probably classify this poem as a sonnet because the poem is only 14 lines long. “Ozmandias” is an Italian sonnet because the last two lines of the poem do not rhyme. The rhyme pattern of the poem isn’t particularly notable, but the poem certainly still succeeds in telling a story in first-person view about an “antique land” and “Ozmandias, King of Kings.” The reader gets the impression that the dynasty of Ozmandias was once great, but images such as “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone,” and “that colossal wreck,” leave the impression that what once was great has now crumbled into the desert sand. The poem has certain levels of irony. All that was left of Ozmandias the King’s empire are two legs with the following inscription: “My name is Ozmandias, King of Kings: / Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” Shelley is possibly trying to illustrate the fact that time is everlasting and never stops, but the works and deeds of men are not as time-tested as we might thing.
I felt the same way about the irony being portrayed! Good post.
ReplyDeleteI think this was very well written and thought out!
ReplyDeleteI love that we couldn't read each other's posts beforehand, but that we totally caught on to the same theme of irony! This is more fun than I was expecting, haha.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your thoughts about the reader's impression of what kind of leader Ozimandias was based on the remains of his grand statue.
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