Ozymandias

In the poem “Ozymandias”, Shelley examines opposing views, leaving the poem open to different interpretations. At first read, it seems to criticise, “Shelley uses the sonnet- form not to monumentalize, but to declare the folly of all monuments, especially those built by tyrants in their own vainglorious self-praise” (O’Neill, 24). Readers are presented with a “shattered visage”, “half-sunken” and “lifeless”, surrounded by “decay” (Shelley, 768). Like the image of the sphinx presented, it suggests that greatness is erased with time, and that power is not permanent. That something once grand and beautiful is left to “decay” in the “lifeless” (768) sand suggests a futility in the struggle for power as it is, eventually, nothing but dust.

“Look upon my works ye mighty and despair!” written upon the tomb of the great Ozymandias. The work is all his. The work has nothing to do with the artist who sculpted the great sculptures and certainly doesn’t have anything to do with Ozymandias’s people. Because they are his too. It’s quite ironic how Percy Shelly plays this out using irony to demonstrate a theme of loneliness. Ozymandias seems too great to compare to anyone else. The great “king of kings” ended up buried alone in the middle of the desert. He had so much power, but was so alone and had no one to share it with. How could he? He seems to only have fed his people to pat himself on the back and tell himself he was a good leader; When later he would mock them as if they were lucky he fed them in the first place. Ozymandias is so self-consumed that it seems ironic how his sculptures show his “sneer of cold command”. It appears as if the artist was somehow making fun of him and stabbing him in the ankle because he is too tall to notice. It also seems ironic how on Ozymandias’s tomb, instead of the words of his people, there is a quote from Ozymandias himself telling everyone how great he was. As if his people were so fed up with his abuse, they are now laughing at his cold dead body. This makes Ozymandias appear as if he was always alone with no one to confide in.

These are the words engraved on the tombstone of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II. Ozymandias is undoubtedly one of both Percy Bysshe Shelley's and romantic poetry's best known works. It was written in December of 1817 during a writing contest and it was published in 1818.

In the second stanza, Shelley describes the ever-changing frailty of human existence. In lines, five through nine humans are described as "forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings/ Give various response to each varying blast, / To whose frail frame no second motion brings/ One mood or modulation like the last.” This is a metaphor for the human condition and morality. For example, in this stanza humans are compared to “forgotten lyres.” This comparison between humans and the “forgotten lyres” highlights the perpetual human condition of change. It is showing that like the lyres when humans are gone, they will be forgotten. Additionally, the various moods of the stanza are created by the different sounds of the lyre, “whose strings give a various response to various blasts.” Shelley is again pointing out that nothing is constant.

The irony emerges in the sestet, lines 10 and 11, as the Image “ozymandias” wanted you to see was this mighty statue, that would leave you in despair, when you came across it. . However, there is not much that remains of the once great statue, nor of his empire, that he once ruled. He was a human being with no significant power, and, his intention was to be remembered, therefore he created a monument for himself to be remembered by, but ironically this once great statue, is nothing more than shattered remains that lay “half sunk” in the desert sands.. The poem ends off with the image of nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. All civilization, his entire empire is nothing but sand. Ozymandias, the sculptor and his statue has succumb to time. Nothing besides the decay of his statue remains in the desert

“Ozymandias” starts rather simply and straightforward. The beginning serves mainly to introduce the setting of the poem. Shelley begins by identifying the situation. A traveler shows the speaker a crumbled statue of a once great ruler. After the introduction, the poem quick shifts from a mainly descriptive tone, to a very ironic and almost silently sarcastic one. Shelley uses plenty of imagery to describe the statue and the landscape around it, in order to paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind. We envision the dreary desert, which allows the reader to experience the same “boundless and bare” (Line 13) desolation that the speaker witnesses. Shelley doesn’t spare an ounce of detail describing the fallen pharaoh. This is key component that is used to ironically juxtapose the grand statue’s great claim with the barren wasteland and his shattered remnants. The arrogance that is displayed here is a symbol of the arrogance of all mankind. The mix of the “lone and level sands” (line 14) and the “colossal wreck” (Line 13) symbolize how temporary mankind’s achievements are, and how unscathed and uninfluenced the earth ultimately remains from mankind’s mark.

In attempts to immortalize his existence, man has formed civilization after civilization in order to stave off the inevitable decay of time. The earth is littered with the ruins of antiquity that serve as nothing more than remnants of once powerful tyrants who sought in vain to immortalize their existence. In his sonnet "Ozymandias", Percy Bysshe Shelley depicts this struggle with a condemnatory eye. When all things come to an end, Shelley argues that art and culture are what truly represent civilization, not the legacy of those who commissioned the work. While the tyrannous reign of man is finite, the unknown artist 's craft survives as a means to honestly depict the past. Shelley, as a poet, commiserates with the unknown artist, and argues that their endeavors of creation are alike. Thus, Shelley asserts that poetry not only stands the test of time, but also uses it to reveal truths of mankind.

4. The theme of the poem is the worthlessness of the claims made by human tyrants, being Ozymandia claimed to be a great king above all, however all that remains of him are remains and emptiness instead of greatness.

Nothing can last for an indefinite amount of time, this means, the very worst political leaders, laws, and ideas will soon end at some point in time. In the poem, “Ozymandias”, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, explores what ultimately happens to tyrant kings over the course of time through the encounter of a traveller from an antique land, who through his point of view, describes a fallen statue of a once powerful king (614). Shelley 's poem has made Ozymandias seem as if he was a fool, who was attempting to refuse the acknowledge of time 's destruction of human achievement. The king attempted to be remembered favorably through his

Although the poem “Ozymandias” was about this great and powerful king from ancient times it was not started until 1792 and finished in 1822. Percy Shelley was a romantic poet and this poem was not like most of his other; he wrote this poem in a compotation with his friend when they heard the British Museum was getting a statue of Ramesses II. It had a much deeper meaning than love and lust. Percy Shelley uses irony and symbolism to create a deeper meaning that shows how human mortality escapes even the most powerful of people.

Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Ozymandias pensively portrays Ramses ll as an enduring force throughout the ages. Weaving together past and present by placing temple ruins at the nucleus of the text, the author records for posterity the King’s immortality while brazenly alluding to his malfeasance as a flawed human. Referring to the Pharaoh by his Greek moniker, Shelley assures the reader of his familiarity with the subject, setting the stage for his lyrical narrative. The author’s command of visual imagery eloquently depicts the impermanence of life, and he creates tension with adroit alternation of language, juxtaposing the antithetical forces of decay/mortality and everlasting existence. Finally, Shelly unites the work by symbolically bridging the distance between Pharaoh and the bleak ruins. In his poem Ozymandias, author Percy Bysshe Shelley sets a somber tone by using visual imagery to explore his subject matter. He creates palpable tension by utilizing alternating language as a device by which to explore the mortal and immortal aspects of the human condition, therefore symbolically connecting the past to the present. In doing so, Shelley iterates the fact that even death cannot overcome the presence of Ramses ll, who exists beyond time as a God, despite his mortal failings.

I believe that the message that Percy B. Shelley is trying to express in the poem "Ozymandias" is actually a reference. The poem is referring to Egypt. In Ancient Egypt, pharaohs would make their people build statues for them. Now those statues just lie there like “vast and trunkless legs of stone.” These statues were built so that future generations would remember that pharaoh or God it was built for. What Percy is trying to say is that no one can live forever and sooner or later you will “fall down” and be forgotten. Another way to interpret his poem is that he also writes of "Ozymandias" as the king of kings. In the bible, Jesus is called the

The first message is about the rich and poor that Gray had spoken about throughout the story. While reading Elegy, Gray had brought up that where you live says a lot to if you have money or not. He mentioned how people in the city are very rich and how they basically can get whatever they want. While in the country, you have more of the poor people that live there, the ones that work all day long to at least get some money to keep themselves a live. With that, it asks the question, which is better? To be

In the second stanza, the writer portray the mists that rush over the pre-winter sky determined by the same furious wind and trusted into shapes that help him to remember maenads, Greek ladies known for their wild conduct. The artist utilizes third stanza to portray the effect of the wind on the Mediterranean coast line and the Atlantic Ocean the wind, Shelley says now the water and undersea vegetation similarly it moves the scene. In the last two stanzas, the artist says in regards to the conceivable outcomes that his change by the wind would have on his capacity as a writer. The last question with which the writer closes this ballad is really a note of trust: the demise that happens in winter is constantly trailed by another life each spring. Shelley trust that his work may impart the destiny of other question in nature, they may be unnoticed for the time, however one day they will have incredible effect on

Poets speak their minds on paper through poetry, generating a secret language that needs to be deciphered. Adrienne Rich and Percy Bysshe Shelley both create poems that do not require deciphering since both poets had a contrasting approach. In “Ballade of the Poverties” and “To the Men of England,” Rich and Shelley use poetry as a ‘social media’ that airs their concerns to the public. In “Ballade of the Poverties,” Rich concentrates on the idea that the world around her is getting abominable; everything is losing value. Rich mentions ‘Princes’ in her poem, which is to be understood as the government, politicians, and rich people in general who consume but never produce. Similarly, Shelley expresses the same complications with England as he uses poetry as a tool to create awareness to and for the Men of England. Rich and Shelley both wrote poems that are simple and comprehendible to their generation. The success of the poem is accredited to the techniques used to lure and persuade people of their time to issues concerning them. The Rich and Shelley use diction, rhymes, lines, and repetition to protest against the arbitrary episodes of their historical time to settle an inflexible voice and firm tone to the distant audiences.