OZYMANDIAS
QUOTES AND ANALYSIS
The language deliberately shows how Ozymandias’s power has diminished
with words such as “shatter’d”, “sunk” and “stamp’d”. It seems like time
violently attacks Ozymandias, time reflects Shelley’s anger about the
pharaoh’s tyranny. Shelley describes Ozymandias as ruling with a “frown
and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command”. “Wrinkled lip” suggests he
feels superior to others, as he is sneering to those below him “Cold
command” – alliteration shows that he rules coldly without any empathy
towards his people. There is a sense of a tyrant ruling for his benefit and
not for his people’s benefit. Ozymandias sees himself as the “king of
kings”, which further emphasises his arrogance (hubris) and tyranny.
There is also a sense of time washing his power away represented by
sands “level sands stretch far away”. This would of have been a common
image at the time because of the hourglass, therefore sand is symbolic of
time. There is an interesting concept of the sands being level – not only
does time level everything but politically when we are level, everybody is
on one level, where you get rid of a tyrant or dictator and there is a
democracy established where everyone has a vote and say on how to be
governed.
Shelley juxtaposes the language of democracy with the language of
tyranny, to shows that eventually democracy with triumph. That is why
the sands “stretch far away” – its not just time itself but the political
thought that democracy will outlive governance by tyrants.
However, the poem can also be interpreted as more of a poem about art in
general.
The sculpture could represent the poet and how he triumphed over the
tyranny of the dictator Ozymandias. The sculpture paints a picture on how
Ozymandias didn’t have a real life – “lifeless things” – it shows how
although Ozymandias lived to 90 years old, his life was meaningless
because he was always in pursuit of more power.
The sculpture shows Ozymandias’ true self – “The hand that mock’d them
and the heart that fled” – we het an idea that the heart is supposed to give
life, but Ozymandias’ heart fed on the people he was supposed to serve.
Shelley presents the pharaoh as a monster.
When Ozymandias writes on his pedestal “Look on my works, ye Mighty,
and despair!”, it shows how he thinks his works will stand the test of time
to show how powerful he was. However, the irony is that the work of the
sculptor remains – perhaps it represents how art will always outlive the
power of dictatorship.
The poem also relates to time. Shelley describes Egypt as “an antique
land”. There is a sense that time will always move forward so whatever we
do now is meaningless. But Shelley chose the word “antique” which
indicates that something is special and valuable, therefore time could give
us hope, because it preserves history.
, Time can also represent triumph over dictatorship. “Nothing beside
remains” – there is a despairing view that all of us will die and only our
remains will be left. The sand
swill “level” and everything will be buried – whatever you did in your life is
inconsequential after. Arguably, Shelley is trying to say that this is
You could view the tone of the poem as having an ironic distance from
Ozymandias. The poet puts a distance between himself and Ozymandias
by starting with “I met a traveller from and antique land”. So, he’s not
seen the statue of Ozymandias himself, he just heard it from a stranger.
Maybe Shelley does this to show that that’s how far removed
Ozymandias’s fame is now from the time where he was the “king of
kings”. By adding this ironic distance, it shows how far time has torn away
the power of this Pharaoh.
Another way Shelley maintains ironic distance, is by contrast. He describes
the legs of the statue as “vast” which appears to suggest that they are
massive, but he then contrasts this with the idea that they are “trunkless
legs”. Meaning the legs are pointless without a body.
Shelley writes “these words appear” which suggests that the sculptor
didn’t write them, not even Ozymandias himself, but almost like time
wrote it. Time is saying ironically that Ozymandias thought he was the
king of kings but only “despair” remains – time reduced him to nothing
There are sounds of attack in the poem. On the first line there is assonance
“traveller”, “an”, “antique” and “land”. You can hear the angry tone of the
poem. But at the end of the poem, the tone shifts to a gentler sound “far away”,
the final a is drawn out even more, which suggests that Shelley’s passion and
ambition will not last similarly to Ozymandias, he recognizes that death and time
will triumph over him.
He also uses sibilance in this way on the first few lines of the poem “vast”,
“trunkless”, “legs”, “stone”, stand”. But at the end of the poem his harsh
tone dissipates with the use of double ‘s’ sounds which are much softer
“colossal”, “boundless” “sands stretch”. There is a sense of acceptance
that he will not live forever no matter how brilliant your life is, anger has
been replaced with acceptance and peace.
FORM:
The poem is a sonnet. A sonnet is a 14 line love poem with two parts, the
first 8 lines (octate) and the last six lines (sextate), with a volta (a change
in the poem) on the 9th line. In the octate there is an image of a statue but
in the sextate the poem focuses on the personalty of Ozymandias who
wanted to be remembered as all powerful and the solution to that in the
volta, is that none of that power remains, all that is left is a shattered
statue and the sand.
Shelley is writing a petrarchan sonnet form, meaning the octate has to
have an A-B-B-A rhyme scheme whislt the sextate can have a different
rhyme scheme. However Shelley rejected that, asserting his individuality.
This relates to the Romanticism movement.
QUOTES AND ANALYSIS
The language deliberately shows how Ozymandias’s power has diminished
with words such as “shatter’d”, “sunk” and “stamp’d”. It seems like time
violently attacks Ozymandias, time reflects Shelley’s anger about the
pharaoh’s tyranny. Shelley describes Ozymandias as ruling with a “frown
and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command”. “Wrinkled lip” suggests he
feels superior to others, as he is sneering to those below him “Cold
command” – alliteration shows that he rules coldly without any empathy
towards his people. There is a sense of a tyrant ruling for his benefit and
not for his people’s benefit. Ozymandias sees himself as the “king of
kings”, which further emphasises his arrogance (hubris) and tyranny.
There is also a sense of time washing his power away represented by
sands “level sands stretch far away”. This would of have been a common
image at the time because of the hourglass, therefore sand is symbolic of
time. There is an interesting concept of the sands being level – not only
does time level everything but politically when we are level, everybody is
on one level, where you get rid of a tyrant or dictator and there is a
democracy established where everyone has a vote and say on how to be
governed.
Shelley juxtaposes the language of democracy with the language of
tyranny, to shows that eventually democracy with triumph. That is why
the sands “stretch far away” – its not just time itself but the political
thought that democracy will outlive governance by tyrants.
However, the poem can also be interpreted as more of a poem about art in
general.
The sculpture could represent the poet and how he triumphed over the
tyranny of the dictator Ozymandias. The sculpture paints a picture on how
Ozymandias didn’t have a real life – “lifeless things” – it shows how
although Ozymandias lived to 90 years old, his life was meaningless
because he was always in pursuit of more power.
The sculpture shows Ozymandias’ true self – “The hand that mock’d them
and the heart that fled” – we het an idea that the heart is supposed to give
life, but Ozymandias’ heart fed on the people he was supposed to serve.
Shelley presents the pharaoh as a monster.
When Ozymandias writes on his pedestal “Look on my works, ye Mighty,
and despair!”, it shows how he thinks his works will stand the test of time
to show how powerful he was. However, the irony is that the work of the
sculptor remains – perhaps it represents how art will always outlive the
power of dictatorship.
The poem also relates to time. Shelley describes Egypt as “an antique
land”. There is a sense that time will always move forward so whatever we
do now is meaningless. But Shelley chose the word “antique” which
indicates that something is special and valuable, therefore time could give
us hope, because it preserves history.
, Time can also represent triumph over dictatorship. “Nothing beside
remains” – there is a despairing view that all of us will die and only our
remains will be left. The sand
swill “level” and everything will be buried – whatever you did in your life is
inconsequential after. Arguably, Shelley is trying to say that this is
You could view the tone of the poem as having an ironic distance from
Ozymandias. The poet puts a distance between himself and Ozymandias
by starting with “I met a traveller from and antique land”. So, he’s not
seen the statue of Ozymandias himself, he just heard it from a stranger.
Maybe Shelley does this to show that that’s how far removed
Ozymandias’s fame is now from the time where he was the “king of
kings”. By adding this ironic distance, it shows how far time has torn away
the power of this Pharaoh.
Another way Shelley maintains ironic distance, is by contrast. He describes
the legs of the statue as “vast” which appears to suggest that they are
massive, but he then contrasts this with the idea that they are “trunkless
legs”. Meaning the legs are pointless without a body.
Shelley writes “these words appear” which suggests that the sculptor
didn’t write them, not even Ozymandias himself, but almost like time
wrote it. Time is saying ironically that Ozymandias thought he was the
king of kings but only “despair” remains – time reduced him to nothing
There are sounds of attack in the poem. On the first line there is assonance
“traveller”, “an”, “antique” and “land”. You can hear the angry tone of the
poem. But at the end of the poem, the tone shifts to a gentler sound “far away”,
the final a is drawn out even more, which suggests that Shelley’s passion and
ambition will not last similarly to Ozymandias, he recognizes that death and time
will triumph over him.
He also uses sibilance in this way on the first few lines of the poem “vast”,
“trunkless”, “legs”, “stone”, stand”. But at the end of the poem his harsh
tone dissipates with the use of double ‘s’ sounds which are much softer
“colossal”, “boundless” “sands stretch”. There is a sense of acceptance
that he will not live forever no matter how brilliant your life is, anger has
been replaced with acceptance and peace.
FORM:
The poem is a sonnet. A sonnet is a 14 line love poem with two parts, the
first 8 lines (octate) and the last six lines (sextate), with a volta (a change
in the poem) on the 9th line. In the octate there is an image of a statue but
in the sextate the poem focuses on the personalty of Ozymandias who
wanted to be remembered as all powerful and the solution to that in the
volta, is that none of that power remains, all that is left is a shattered
statue and the sand.
Shelley is writing a petrarchan sonnet form, meaning the octate has to
have an A-B-B-A rhyme scheme whislt the sextate can have a different
rhyme scheme. However Shelley rejected that, asserting his individuality.
This relates to the Romanticism movement.
