Notes on the Sea and Ozymandias

The first overarching theme of all of these poems is that man-made things eventually die. In “Ozymandias”, the statue of Ramses II gradually decays until he is forgotten. The king being lost in memory is shown in the very beginning before the statue is even mentioned when a traveller tells the story of Ozymandias, which adds another level of obscurity to the statue: “I met a traveller from an antique land / Who said” (lines 1 - 2). In other words, rather than seeing the statue for oneself, one hears about it from someone who heard about it from someone who has seen it. This conveys the impermanence of the king’s power, a man-made concept, as time erodes at the statue until the king is no longer remembered. “Stand” (3) is an example of the personification of the statue. This gives it life, showing that man-made things start out alive but are always approaching death, as even the “trunkless legs” (2), diction that conveys the already dilapidated state of the statue,

The statue Itself functions as a synecdoche for the story that yields another point of Davis’s understanding between her relationship and subject matter with the audience. Hugh’s statue when rightly viewed, exemplified by Mitchell speaks the truth of workers’ existence that neither Hugh (whose speech becomes hesitant and sub literate when asked about the statue) nor the narrator seem capable of doing. As Mitchell reads the statue, lashing out against May’s understanding of it “asks questions of God” (Davis) just as the narrator hopes he or she will reveal the very lives of workers asking the “terrible dumb question” she or he cannot fully

The poem's language emphasizes the inevitability and finality of the traveler's confrontation. Alliterated "d" consonant sounds, as in "death", pervade poem's first and second stanzas: "dark", "deer", "dead", "doe", even "stiffened" and "cold". These words evoke feelings of deliberate doom that transcend their literal definitions and thud with terminal authority. Contrastingly, the repetition of the "Ô" vowel sound in the third stanza (warm and born) creates an atmosphere as inviting and secure as a womb.

The poem is in the form of a four line verse with an almost constant AA BB rhyme. The line lengths are constant but some lines do run on into the next. The rhythm of the poem begins with a slow pace, this is suggested by the word "lumbering" in line 1, then the piece begins to slowly pick up the tempo at line 13. This tempo to me then builds with each successive line until a climax is reached with line 24. The poet then purposely puts the brakes on the tempo by using repetition of the word "fade" line 25, after which the tempo is the same as at the beginning. The religious theme to this poem is made by the use of similes and metaphors in the horses descriptions. An example being their comparison to seraphims of gold (line 11), seraphim's of course being an order of angels. Another being the use the word bossy (line 15), a reference perhaps to the carved wooden bosses found high in the vaulting of Gothic Church ceilings. He sets a creepy mood to the piece by the process of alliteration using the letter "m" (line 12) to lower the tempo and tone prior to the fourth verse. It is here when the tempo begins to gain momentum, another piece of alliteration is used in the form of the expression "broad-breasted" (line 14), which instills the idea that these creatures are big and so should make a larger impact to us as they overpower the sinking sun. From now on the horses are taking on more and more almost mythological properties, "glowing with mysterious fire" (line 19), and

In the poem, “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a traveler notices a statue of what they believe to be a king, and it is, for the most part, destroyed. The traveler, later, notices a quote that basically says that king Ozymandias believes he is the most powerful king in the world. Throughout the poem, it shows the reader that nothing lasts forever, though humans may believe it will. Ozymandias believed that he was the best king in the world, however, the narrator of the poem states, “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/Stand in the desert…Near them on the sand,/Half sunk, a shattered visage lies…” (Shelley 2-4). This quote shows that even the statue of Ozymandias and its surroundings are broken and uncivilized. The reader knows that there

symbolism and use of each notable statuette or monument is described, whether it was for

Imagery is used to create visual representations of the scene and it helps the reader find the deeper meaning of the passage. In the poem “Ozymandias”, imagery is a device used to imply the real meaning of the poem. The author of the passage is trying to create a picture within the reader’s mind of what has taken place. The main character of the poem, the king, is full of pride and self-assurance. When he says, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”(Shelley 10-11), he is trying to portray the idea that he is equal to the ‘King of Kings’ which is often referenced to the Bible as God.

Time is one of the largest factors of the universe. Everything has a beginning, just as everything has an end. Over the many years our world has been around, humanity has tried it’s hardest to preserve information throughout history in whatever way they could. In this day and age, we have found many relics of the past, but there are also many relics that have been lost forever. One of these relics that was lost was the Kingdom of Ozymandias, or as he is better known as, Ramses II. In the short poem of Ozymandias, all that remains of his kingdom is a broken statue in the middle of the Egyptian desert. This sonnet is the perfect example of how plenty of things can’t survive the test of time. We have records of Ramses II and his rule in Egypt, but as far as physical proof of his kingdom, it has all vanished underneath the sand. For this paper, it will talk about Percy Bysshe Shelley himself, the author of Ozymandias, the deeper meanings behind the sonnet itself, going more in-depth on Ramses II’s rule of Egypt, and why Shelley wrote the tale of Ozymandias in the first place.

*His vision of a colossal statue embodies the idea of American freedom. His statue inspires more than just art, but rather american values of equality and liberty.

The decreasing height of the statues represents becoming iller throughout time. A person with mental health issues may feel as though they are sinking. Feeling helpless deteriorates a person's appetite, attitude and well being. This makes them feel more alone and as though they have no one to talk to. Maybe this represents a man who suffered from a mental illness and was falling apart in life. Each of the statues

Furthermore, Ozymandias’ works are momentary. Ironically, he believes that the “mighty [will]… despair” (11) when they view this “ shattered… wreck” (Ln. 4,13). Ozymandias created the statue believing that it would bring him praise. This idea is completely refuted by the cracked stones sneering up from the ground. The disparity between what was expected and what is causes the king to appear as a fool.

5 The seven rays of the Statue's crown represent the seven seas and seven continents of the world. 6 Chains and shackles are at her feet, which can only be seen from above. The shackles represent America breaking the chains of tyranny and accepting democracy as a viable form of government. 7

The sculptor did a good job of depicting Ozymandias just the way he wanted his legacy to be known to the rest of the world and throughout the ages. Ozymandias wanted the people to view him as remote and all over commanding figure.

Power is something that can be very delicate. It can easily be misused or taken for granted and when that happens there are usually severe consequences that must be faced. Ozymandias is a fine example of a person who got a little too comfortable with the authority he was given, and suffered the consequences of his action. “Ozymandias” is a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, this tale unfolds the story of a traveler who sees a disintegrating statue and took it upon himself to examine it. The sculpture is of a person named Ozymandias, who was once a great ruler that was loved by his subjects. Unfortunately, he was plagued with the inability to with stand the corruption of power, which led to his untimely demise.

Ozymandias is a poem about a traveler, who is from a distant land, which traveled to a desart. The traveler wandered across a statue in the middle of the desart. The statue was enormous, but it was shattered into pieces. The one specific piece that caught his eye was