Analysis Of `` Ozymandias `` And The Ballad Of Birmingham ``

Shelley’s poem and depiction of Ozymandias could be a symbolic way of promoting his views against the monarchy, as he depicts Ozymandias as a tyrant with harsh descriptions such as “a sneer of cold command” and mocks him with the juxtaposition of “king of kings” and “colossal wreck”. However, instead of obviously putting forward his views and risking negative exposure, Shelley distances himself from the poem with intriguing use of multiple perspectives. The poem begins with “I met”, a first person introduction, but quickly switches to the traveller’s perspective as Shelley depicts what the traveller saw. In this way, he subtly puts across his socialist views without incriminating himself through symbolism and distancing himself from the narrative. In this way, the poem presents two powerful rulers, with Ozymandias symbolising King George.

The topic that chosen was to compare the way a short story treats death with the way a poem reveals death. The short story chosen was “The Story of an hour” by Kate Chopin and the poem chosen was “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall. They each have their own way of expressing the nature of death.

Shelley often would use poetry as a means to promote his social and political philosophies. Shelley had a disdain for British government. Through the use of the fallen pharaoh, Shelley is able to warn against the dangers of arrogance and power. The inspiration for Ozymandias is more than likely George III, the king of Britain in the late 1700s. Evident in many of his works, Shelley did not approve of King George III’s ways. Ozymandias is most often read in a political light, however, there is more Shelley in the “shattered visage” (Shelley,

The life of a dominant king who got lost in the things of the world, resulted in him losing focus on his destiny through power and time. It is a battle between man and the natural world he faced. Percy Shelley’s poem, Ozymandias, demonstrates that no matter the position one holds, in time, power can be arrogant and ruling, but cannot ultimately last for an eternity.

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote this poem "Ozymandias" to express to us that possessions do not mean immortality. He used very strong imagery and irony to get his point across throughout the poem. In drawing these vivid and ironic pictures in our minds, Shelley was trying to explain that no one lives forever, and nor do their possessions. Shelley expresses this poem’s moral through a vivid and ironic picture. A shattered stone statue with only the legs and head remaining, standing in the desert, the face is proud and arrogant, "Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read"(lines, 4-6).

Romanticism is composed of several different themes, all of which are definitive of what Romanticism entails; one of the most prevalent and important of these themes is that of alienation, whether it be from oneself or from the world. Several poets in the Romantic period wrote on this theme, but one who imparted the most meaning in the fewest amount of words is Percy Bysshe Shelley in “Ozymandias.” Shelley tackles the idea of separate existence from yourself in a unique way: as opposed to the way William Wordsworth would tell his audience what they needed to do in order to avoid alienation, Shelley presents to his audience an example of alienation causing a person to fade into past. In telling the story of Ozymandias, King of Kings, Shelley

The poem "Ozymandias" is one of the best sonnets of Percy Bysshe Shelley. In this poem Shelley described a mighty king who was striving in his whole life for his possessions and got involved in worldly assignments so much that he forgot his ultimate destiny. Beside this, Shelley reminds the readers of their mortality through the realization that our earthly accomplishments, so important to us now, will one day be finished. By drawing these vivid and ironic pictures in readers minds, with different symbols, Shelley was trying to illustrate that no one lives forever in the

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley and London by William Blake both explore the theme of power, and how nothing is permanent since time can destroy anything. Both poems relate to the romantic era because romantic writers believed in the idea of nature, and the poem Ozymandias is a reminder that all man-made things will lose to time and the earth. But in comparison London contrasts this reminder, as the industrialization in London is destroying nature, but yet it reinforces the idea that time can change anything.

In the poem “Ballad of Birmingham”, by Dudley Randall, many different things can be analyzed. The difference in the two translations; one being a literal translation, telling the true meaning of the poem, and the other being a thematic translation, which tells the author’s theme and symbolism used in his/her work. Another thing that all poets have in common is the usage of poetic devices; such as similes, metaphors, and personification.

Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the grief of losing a child. The mother feels responsible for the death of her child. The dramatic irony of the mother’s view of church as being a “safe haven” for her child is presented to the reader through the mother’s insistence that the young girl

Ballad of Birmingham, written by the poet Dudley Randall relives a tragic moment in time in which four little girls died when a church was purposefully exploded. This poem is based on the incident that occurred in Birmingham, Alabama. This poem vividly shows the perspective of a mother losing her child. Most of the poem includes a mother daughter discussion regarding the participation of the freedom march. The mother explains to her daughter that it is far too dangerous for her to be participate, therefore she sends her daughter to church, where she believes that she would be safe. The mother later hears of the explosion and runs over to find out that her daughter had been killed by noticing her daughter’s shoe on the ground. In Ballad of Birmingham, Dudley Randall uses voice, imagery, and sound to show how the tragic event revolves around a theme of racism/mother’s love, which most readers can empathize to.

The American author Erin Morganstern says, “All empires must fall eventually. It is the way of things” (Goodreads). In this quote she explores the idea that nothing lasts forever, especially when it comes to power, an idea explored through literature. Harlan Ellison’s ‘Repent Harlequin’ Said the Ticktockman explores a society where being late is punishable with death, and the Harlequin rebels, throwing off the mechanical structure of society, demonstrating the idea of power collapsing. Percy Bysshe Shelley also illustrates this idea in his poem Ozymandias, where a traveler finds the destroyed ruins of a statue that has an inscription telling the observer to look upon his works and despair. The distinctive uses of symbolism and irony in ‘Repent Harlequin’ Said the Ticktockman and Ozymandias craft a theme that even the most powerful dynasties will fall, attempting to show rulers the foolishness of thinking they will be in power forever.

In “Theme for English B” the writer says “You are white- yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. That's American”. He is a colored person but when he say this in his paper to his teachers it shows that no matter what color they are that they are still Americans and part of the same country. And in “Ballad of Birmingham” shows how dangerous and hard it is to gain civil rights. The mother in the writing sends her daughter to church instead of a rally, “No, baby, no, you may not go, for I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead, and sing in the children’s choir.”,

Shelley’s version of “Ozymandias” pays particular attention to the details of what remains of Ramses’s statue. Shelley conveys to the reader that no matter how powerful a ruler may be, their influence will fade with time. The description of what Babylon looks like when the poem was written gives the reader a clear

The poem “Ozymandias” is considered one of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s best sonnets. It was written in 1817 and is still recognized today as its meaning still holds true. “Ozymandias” illustrates the fall of power and mortality through a once powerful king. This is shown through the pride of the king, the tyranny that the king ruled by, and the transience of his ruling and empire.