Ozymandias: Form, Structure and Context
Ozymandias translates to King of the Air which could either suggest he is king of
nothing, which creates a sense of irony or a king of everything.
Structure:
- Broken sonnet - Ozymandias could be viewed as a broken sonnet as it doesnt t a
traditional rhyme scheme or rhyming couplet. This re ects to being broken into pieces
and relates to broken power and how Ozyamdnias’s power was short-lived and not
remembered. Sonnets are usually linked to love and the idea of romance, this creates a
sense of irony as the poem is a poem criticising Ozymandias.
- Traditional Sonnet - Sonnets are traditionally 14 lines that usually link to love and
romance. Although, on rst glance as it doesn’t seem to follow a normal rhyming
pattern it is seen a broken sonnet it has traditional sonnet features as well. Shelley is
criticising Ozymandias self love and narcissistic traits, and how he believes in his own
brilliance and believes his power will be eternal. This presents Ozymandias as hubristic
and creates a sense of irony as his power was short lived
- Rhyme - Shelley is rejecting traditional rhyming scheme in sonnets such as Petrarchan
or Shakespearian traditional sonnet rhyme schemes. This is him asserting his own
individuality as he is attempting to create his own version of a sonnet.
- Romantic Poets - Romantic poets cultivated in individualism and this is proven as
Shelley forges his own sonnet type and this con rms him as a romantic poet. Romantic
poets also have a moral purpose as Shelley is criticising tyrants, dictatorship and the
idealism is political
Context:
- Shelley wrote this on an exhibition in London of Egyptian status - and this could be
viewed as competition with his friend ‘Horace Smith’ as they both based poems on
Ozymandias and this shows reasoning behind the poem and why Shelley wrote it apart
from using it as a way to share his political views
- He talks about the survival of art and regardless of the face being ‘shattered’ Shelley
can understand artist goals and what the artist was trying to achieve with the result,
regardless of the fact the salvable part were the remains.
- The sculptor is being respected and his work outlives the dictator - Shelley suggesting
that if he creates a poem where people understand his views, his poem will have more
power, popularity and outlive than the statue he is describing in the poem. This is
proven by ‘look on my works, ye mighty and despair,’ the use of ‘mighty’ relates to
famous pots and sonnet writers such as Shakespeare proceeding him. Shelley wants
to draw attention to himself as he creates a new sonnet from and want to create
something that is never outlived or at least outlives Ozymandias
fi fi fl fi
Ozymandias translates to King of the Air which could either suggest he is king of
nothing, which creates a sense of irony or a king of everything.
Structure:
- Broken sonnet - Ozymandias could be viewed as a broken sonnet as it doesnt t a
traditional rhyme scheme or rhyming couplet. This re ects to being broken into pieces
and relates to broken power and how Ozyamdnias’s power was short-lived and not
remembered. Sonnets are usually linked to love and the idea of romance, this creates a
sense of irony as the poem is a poem criticising Ozymandias.
- Traditional Sonnet - Sonnets are traditionally 14 lines that usually link to love and
romance. Although, on rst glance as it doesn’t seem to follow a normal rhyming
pattern it is seen a broken sonnet it has traditional sonnet features as well. Shelley is
criticising Ozymandias self love and narcissistic traits, and how he believes in his own
brilliance and believes his power will be eternal. This presents Ozymandias as hubristic
and creates a sense of irony as his power was short lived
- Rhyme - Shelley is rejecting traditional rhyming scheme in sonnets such as Petrarchan
or Shakespearian traditional sonnet rhyme schemes. This is him asserting his own
individuality as he is attempting to create his own version of a sonnet.
- Romantic Poets - Romantic poets cultivated in individualism and this is proven as
Shelley forges his own sonnet type and this con rms him as a romantic poet. Romantic
poets also have a moral purpose as Shelley is criticising tyrants, dictatorship and the
idealism is political
Context:
- Shelley wrote this on an exhibition in London of Egyptian status - and this could be
viewed as competition with his friend ‘Horace Smith’ as they both based poems on
Ozymandias and this shows reasoning behind the poem and why Shelley wrote it apart
from using it as a way to share his political views
- He talks about the survival of art and regardless of the face being ‘shattered’ Shelley
can understand artist goals and what the artist was trying to achieve with the result,
regardless of the fact the salvable part were the remains.
- The sculptor is being respected and his work outlives the dictator - Shelley suggesting
that if he creates a poem where people understand his views, his poem will have more
power, popularity and outlive than the statue he is describing in the poem. This is
proven by ‘look on my works, ye mighty and despair,’ the use of ‘mighty’ relates to
famous pots and sonnet writers such as Shakespeare proceeding him. Shelley wants
to draw attention to himself as he creates a new sonnet from and want to create
something that is never outlived or at least outlives Ozymandias
fi fi fl fi
