Ozymandias
The writer Shelley was a romantic poet, and he had a dislike of imposed control by those in power.
The overlying message of the poem is simple: you think you are all powerful and supreme, but
power is transitory- it doesn’t last forever- it changes over time.
This is a sonnet poem is a sonnet written iambic pentameter.
Themes
Those with power are deluded, their belief that their power is supreme and invincible. This idea that
the powerful in the world think they are all powerful, that their power will never go away. Shelley
trying to say in this poem that the might doesn’t last however interestingly art was represented
though the statue and the sculpture does last. It’s also possible to read the poem as a critique of
Christianity and religious belief in general.
Rhyme
The poem uses Iambic Pentameter, up and down heart beat rhyme represents the passing of time it
suggests the power of time and how time overlives everything else.
Structure and Form
Ozymandias is a sonnet. The sonnet form is always about love so on a basic form it could reflect how
Ozymandias and the arrogant rulers he represents (King George the third) and in the religious
interpretation perhaps Jesus or all religious leaders are in love with themselves. Ozymandias is a
mixture of the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean sonnet forms, as a Petrarchan sonnet it does
follow the detail of having an octave which presents details about the powerful Ozymandias as
represented by his broken structure and then a sestet which focuses on how the power has
disappeared and nature outlives the powerful ruler. Elements of the Shakespearean sonnet are the
rhyme scheme at the first line is the rhyme a b a b. The rhyme scheme then changes to a c d c -e d e
f e f. There are three types of sonnet form in this poem. Another interpretation of the sonnet form is
that just like Petrarch’s sonnet gives way to Shakespeare’s and in this poem Shakespeare’s form
gives way to a new form suggests that all power ultimately gives way to new power, nothing remains
forever not even the form of the sonnet.
Language
‘Ozy’ comes from the Greek ‘Ozium’, meaning ‘to breathe’. ‘Mandias’ comes from the Greek
‘mandate’, meaning ‘to rule’. Even the title suggests power and control.
“I met a traveller from an antique land”- Shelley begins ‘Ozymandias’ by detaching himself from the
story being told. He wants to immediately make the point ‘this is not an open criticism of the British
monarchy’. However, the poem is clearly a thinly veiled attack. Antique also suggests that this
demand for power is as old as history. “Antique” suggests that the land might be old but it is valued,
it seems to be quiet precious and valued just like antiques.
“A shatter’d visage lies” his face has destroyed, the passing of time destroyed his legacy and perhaps
his land also shatterred
“wrinkled lips”- Suggests that his power was already slipping away from him, he was getting old
, “sunk”, “shattered”, “frown”, “wrinkled”, “sneer”- This plethora of deeply negative language is used
to make it very clear that the poem is an attack and not a praising up of the powerful.
“cold command”- The alliterative repetition of the hard ‘c’ sounds reflects the harsh nature of
Ozymandias. Arrogant and aggressive, authority.
“Those passions read which yet survived” his emotions only survived due to the statue not his
because of his land and this creates a very sad images, people have long forgotten him and the only
thing that remains is the statue and that too is breaking down. Soon he will be diminished
“Lifeless” perhaps how his life ended
“Colossal wreck”- Shows the futility of how humans strive to control what we can’t control.
Immortality doesn’t exist. Colossal wreck is a perfect juxtaposition because statue was huge but
devoid of emotion and therefore powerless resembling Ozymandias’s life, he might had power over
his people but overall nature was in control and driving him.
“king of kings”- Ozymandias thinks of himself as almost godlike
“boundless and bare”- Alliteration is used to emphasise the emptiness the emptiness. Devoid of
emotions. A reflection of the land and Ozymandias
“The lone and level sands stretch far away”- The desert outlives the statue.
“mocked”- Could mean ‘to create’ or ‘the artist was actually mocking Ozymandias’. If the artist is
mocking Ozymandias, it sets the artist above him because he clearly didn’t notice that the artist was
taking the mick. It seems that the artist is satirically attacking his subject and perhaps Shelley is using
the sculptor as a metaphor for himself
Repetition of “my” very possessive and arrogant
Ozymandias is naïve to think that his legacy will last forever
Irony- reality vs what is expected
The poem ends with an image of loneliness and emptiness
Exposure
Title: exposure of the truth (war is not brave and honourable) and the exposure to the weather.
Structure
‘But nothing happens’- is anti-climax, soldiers spend a lot of time waiting soldiers lived on
adrenaline. On full alert with heightened sense, ready to go.
Owen structures each stanza in the same way (each one begins with a blunt and powerful sentence,
followed by highly emotive vocabulary choices ‘wearied’, ‘confused’, ‘curious’ etc and this heightens
the tension to build a climactic moment only to end with an anti-climax) to help readers to
emphasise with this experience.
The eighth verse repetition reflects the emotional rollercoaster the soldiers experienced on a daily
basis. It shows that they were exhausted by the same experiences.
Rhyme Scheme
The writer Shelley was a romantic poet, and he had a dislike of imposed control by those in power.
The overlying message of the poem is simple: you think you are all powerful and supreme, but
power is transitory- it doesn’t last forever- it changes over time.
This is a sonnet poem is a sonnet written iambic pentameter.
Themes
Those with power are deluded, their belief that their power is supreme and invincible. This idea that
the powerful in the world think they are all powerful, that their power will never go away. Shelley
trying to say in this poem that the might doesn’t last however interestingly art was represented
though the statue and the sculpture does last. It’s also possible to read the poem as a critique of
Christianity and religious belief in general.
Rhyme
The poem uses Iambic Pentameter, up and down heart beat rhyme represents the passing of time it
suggests the power of time and how time overlives everything else.
Structure and Form
Ozymandias is a sonnet. The sonnet form is always about love so on a basic form it could reflect how
Ozymandias and the arrogant rulers he represents (King George the third) and in the religious
interpretation perhaps Jesus or all religious leaders are in love with themselves. Ozymandias is a
mixture of the Petrarchan and the Shakespearean sonnet forms, as a Petrarchan sonnet it does
follow the detail of having an octave which presents details about the powerful Ozymandias as
represented by his broken structure and then a sestet which focuses on how the power has
disappeared and nature outlives the powerful ruler. Elements of the Shakespearean sonnet are the
rhyme scheme at the first line is the rhyme a b a b. The rhyme scheme then changes to a c d c -e d e
f e f. There are three types of sonnet form in this poem. Another interpretation of the sonnet form is
that just like Petrarch’s sonnet gives way to Shakespeare’s and in this poem Shakespeare’s form
gives way to a new form suggests that all power ultimately gives way to new power, nothing remains
forever not even the form of the sonnet.
Language
‘Ozy’ comes from the Greek ‘Ozium’, meaning ‘to breathe’. ‘Mandias’ comes from the Greek
‘mandate’, meaning ‘to rule’. Even the title suggests power and control.
“I met a traveller from an antique land”- Shelley begins ‘Ozymandias’ by detaching himself from the
story being told. He wants to immediately make the point ‘this is not an open criticism of the British
monarchy’. However, the poem is clearly a thinly veiled attack. Antique also suggests that this
demand for power is as old as history. “Antique” suggests that the land might be old but it is valued,
it seems to be quiet precious and valued just like antiques.
“A shatter’d visage lies” his face has destroyed, the passing of time destroyed his legacy and perhaps
his land also shatterred
“wrinkled lips”- Suggests that his power was already slipping away from him, he was getting old
, “sunk”, “shattered”, “frown”, “wrinkled”, “sneer”- This plethora of deeply negative language is used
to make it very clear that the poem is an attack and not a praising up of the powerful.
“cold command”- The alliterative repetition of the hard ‘c’ sounds reflects the harsh nature of
Ozymandias. Arrogant and aggressive, authority.
“Those passions read which yet survived” his emotions only survived due to the statue not his
because of his land and this creates a very sad images, people have long forgotten him and the only
thing that remains is the statue and that too is breaking down. Soon he will be diminished
“Lifeless” perhaps how his life ended
“Colossal wreck”- Shows the futility of how humans strive to control what we can’t control.
Immortality doesn’t exist. Colossal wreck is a perfect juxtaposition because statue was huge but
devoid of emotion and therefore powerless resembling Ozymandias’s life, he might had power over
his people but overall nature was in control and driving him.
“king of kings”- Ozymandias thinks of himself as almost godlike
“boundless and bare”- Alliteration is used to emphasise the emptiness the emptiness. Devoid of
emotions. A reflection of the land and Ozymandias
“The lone and level sands stretch far away”- The desert outlives the statue.
“mocked”- Could mean ‘to create’ or ‘the artist was actually mocking Ozymandias’. If the artist is
mocking Ozymandias, it sets the artist above him because he clearly didn’t notice that the artist was
taking the mick. It seems that the artist is satirically attacking his subject and perhaps Shelley is using
the sculptor as a metaphor for himself
Repetition of “my” very possessive and arrogant
Ozymandias is naïve to think that his legacy will last forever
Irony- reality vs what is expected
The poem ends with an image of loneliness and emptiness
Exposure
Title: exposure of the truth (war is not brave and honourable) and the exposure to the weather.
Structure
‘But nothing happens’- is anti-climax, soldiers spend a lot of time waiting soldiers lived on
adrenaline. On full alert with heightened sense, ready to go.
Owen structures each stanza in the same way (each one begins with a blunt and powerful sentence,
followed by highly emotive vocabulary choices ‘wearied’, ‘confused’, ‘curious’ etc and this heightens
the tension to build a climactic moment only to end with an anti-climax) to help readers to
emphasise with this experience.
The eighth verse repetition reflects the emotional rollercoaster the soldiers experienced on a daily
basis. It shows that they were exhausted by the same experiences.
Rhyme Scheme
