Ozymandias And Skylark

Both initially poems follow a strict structure, which presents the idea of power and control immediately. For example, in Ozymandias, the fourteen-line poem has a similar form to that of a Shakespearean sonnet, a form of poetry that could represent strict tradition. However, as the poem continues, the rhyme scheme breaks down into more of a free verse, with less structured rhyme and the introduction of caesura, for example “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay” in line twelve. The crumbling of a traditional structure could mimic the destruction of the “colossal wreck” that is the statue, or more metaphorically the breakdown of Ozymandias’s

Homer's great literary classic, The Odyssey, represents and illustrates many emotional and mental values. All of these values can be classified under three different main themes that are constant throughout the epic tale. These themes are: A boy's struggle to be a man, a king's struggle to reclaim his kingdom, and a man's struggle to return home. As one reads this book it will become more and more evident to them that a man's struggle to get home is the most important theme throughout Homer's adventure.

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.

Poems consist of a variation of different techniques in order to convey a message or idea to readers. Wilfred Owen, Thomas Hardy, Adrienne Rich, Bruce Dawe and Robert Browning are great poets who explore these issues, conveying their emotions, which influences a perception of an issue. In each of their poems they express the hidden message of hope, along with their main message. They use similar techniques to express their ideas, which illustrates their purpose to the reader.

From this you can imagine a very conceited, arrogant pharaoh, commanding his people building this great vast statue hoping his power would be immortality. And when this great piece of work is done, he demanded to put such words on the pedestal: ‘"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look at my works, ye Mighty and despair!"’(Lines, 10-11). Ozymandias seemed to think that as long as his sculpture was there, his kingdom would last forever.

Shelley dwells little on the small details of Ozymandias' face, but by Ozymandias' frown, wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, delivered in less than two lines, immediately carry to the reader a vision of a cold, callous, yet strong and determined leader who is commanding his people building his great vast statue hoping his power would be immortal. These concrete items are vital to the description, but are not as strong as what can not be seen. Shelley gives a nod to the talent of the sculptor, from whom Ozymandias received a mirror image of his personality, placed in stone because of his thinking to survive

In Ozymandias, the narrator speaks of an “antique land” that he’s travelled to and comes across a statue which is the King Ozymandias (who is the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II.) The structure of the poem is written in an petrarchan

Percy B’s poem “Ozymandias” captures the belief that the King’s words still remain powerful after all this time. The statue is surrounded by desert and is eroded and broken but the belief is still intact that he is powerful and mighty.

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,

You should comment upon and compare at least two of his poems and describe the tone he writes in the imagery he uses and the poetical techniques he includes to convey his opinions.

A poem about a statue that has far outlived its boastful inscribers, albeit shattered in pieces. This discrepancy is seen between the lines 10-12, “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings/ Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!/ Nothing beside remains. Round the decay…” Clearly, these people thought they were mighty and great, but instead, they are gone and all that remains are the shattered statues. When we die, we cannot take anything with us. It doesn’t matter how rich and important someone is in life; They are nothing but a memory when they are

The poems broader theme is that you can’t always have what you want in life because the tone of longing in

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 king Ozymandias has a great amount of pride for what he has accomplished during his time as ruler. He had a sculptor erect a massive statue of him, which shows how highly he thought of himself. The pedestal of the statue stated "My name is Ozymandias king of kings: / Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" (Shelley, 136, 10-11).

By calling himself “king of kings”, he alludes to God and believes he is greater than all other men. He ruled his kingdom solely on the fear of those beneath him. The intimidating language on the pedestal and the statue made for him display that Ozymandias possessed almighty power. To end the poem, Shelley writes, “Round the decay of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The line and level sands stretch far away.” As time passed, the sand literally destroyed the symbol of what was once the greatest man alive.