Royal Reality Check

In Percy Bysshe Shelley's dramatic sonnet, Ozymandias, he uses ambiguous dialogue and vivid imagery to ironically highlight the lack of true authority found in the leaders of the world. Shelley, who was known for his rebellious attitude, wrote Ozymandias during the romantic period.

Shelley starts off the poem in first person but quickly distances the author from the subject by introducing a barely-aquaintance to describe the meat of the poem. He writes: "I met a traveller from an antique land/ Who said: 'Two vast and trunkless legs of stone..."Within the first two lines, Shelley showcases the gap between the authority of kings, etc and the people by telling the story second hand. Later, when the 'traveller' quotes the pedestal of the King, Shelley contrasts the statement of the king with rich imagery that intensifies the distinction between the attitude of kings and their actual power. "'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:/ Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'" Shelley quotes the king and exhibits the king's narcism with dramatic dialogue. He continues: "Nothing beside remains. Round the decay/ Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,/ The lone and level sands stretch far away." In this passage, Shelley uses alliteration three times to underscore the continuation of nothingness that surrounds the broken statue. When Shelley writes that the "lone and level sands stretch far away," the alliteration of "lone and level" as well as "sands" and "stretch" creates a continuum pattern, which adds to the imagery of endless land surrounding the king who once thought himself to be so powerful.

This imagery, contrasted with the statement of the king, ironically exhibits the discrepancy between a leader's understanding of his power and how much power he actually has.

My Kingdom for a Literary Analysis!

"Ozymandias" is a short poem written by Pery Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Although Shelly only lived to be 29 he left a powerful legacy as a one who represented and helped define the resistant spirit of his time.

In "Ozymandias" a narrator is quoting a traveller who describes the remains of a great statue. Zeroing in on the last paragraph allows the reader to focus on the prominent theme of irony in this poem.This paragraph illustrates that inscribed on the statue are these words "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:/ Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair." Shelley then goes on to juxtapose this proud inscription with the strong and empty imagery of  a completely vacant desert. This powerful comparison is achieved by the close proximity of the command from the pedestal to "Look on my works" and the description of how "Nothing beside remains" and how the "lone and level sands stretch far away."

We also see this irony as he refers to the statue as a "colossal wreck." The diction is critical here. "Colossal" initially brings forth ideas of greatness, but immediately we must reassess how we interpret it as it is used in reference to a "wreck."

Shelley's intent was to cause us to ponder upon the fact that power and influence truly are fleeting, no matter to what extent mankind goes. The vast and empty sands of Ozymandias kingdom testify to that truth.

Hopeless

If you look to the Romantic Era, often you will hear the Percy Bysshe Shelley. And if you look into his works, you'll probably come across the short yet to the point poem of his titled  Ozymandias.

The poem describes talking to a traveler who came upon two huge legs of stone stuck in the sand with the words inscribed saying, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

This dramatic sonnet brings about a feeling of irony as it's talking about something that was once so grande and was thought to never become forgotten, yet over the years it's decayed and washed away in history. In our lives today, everyone seems to believe that they'll be remembered forever, and yet so often we'll go the way of of this once great king.

The description that Shelley gives of the surrounding areas around the statue leaves a feeling of loss and abandonment that at some point we're all bound to go through. It also shows the desolation that now surrounds something that was once a great and terrible thing. And to portray this he ends the poem by saying,

"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

The Irony of the Invincible Man

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Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was an author known to possess the “rebellious spirit” of his time. One of his most famous poems, “Ozymandias”, tells of a deserted and forsaken statue in the middle of the desert. The poem portrays the irony behind the attitude men have that they are powerful and immortal.

The second paragraph shows this by first inserting the quote on the pedestal of the statue. It reads,

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and  / despair!” (It is almost as if the statue itself is yelling into the void to force its greatness.)

The author then uses imagery to show the areas surrounding the statue. He writes,

“Nothing beside remains.” (Meaning that the city or people that created the great statue have left it to ruin.)

He uses words like “decay”, “colossal wreck”, and “bare” to describe the statue as having nothing of worth.

Shelley then describes the area around the statue by saying,

“The lone and level sands stretch far / away.” (His use of the term “level” means that even the wind, known to create waves and hills in the sand, has also deserted the statue.)

Together, the quote of the statue and the description of its current state and surrounding area

show the irony of men believing they are invincible, but time brings change and inevitably those men are forgotten. 

Click here to see Ozymandias performed by Alexander Feht - Interesting!

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.

Ozmandias: King of Kings

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.