![]() It is a Graecized corruption of the Egyptian Usermaatre-setepenre, the throne name of Ramesses II, who reigned as pharaoh for 67 years (1279-1213 BC), and was by far Ancient Egypt’s greatest builder of stone monuments. ![]() “Ozymandias” refers to an Egyptian king in the chronicles of the first-century B.C. The historical context behind the poem is indispensable for a proper analysis. The lone and level sands stretch far away. Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed. Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frownĪnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Who said:-Two vast and trunkless legs of stone The sonnet, like any other, should be read only in its entirety before analysis: And it is one of the few works, classical or modernist, that addresses a subject from that lodestone of the Western imagination, Ancient Egypt. Short, yet powerful and descriptive, it illustrates the sonnet at its best. But it deserves every bit of the reputation it has gained. Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” is one of his shortest works, but also one of his best known, anthologized to the point of ubiquity. It is about much more than the futility of tyranny: It is about the power of art. In “Ozymandias,” the context is the Romantic era: a time in which poets and painters alike sentimentalized the ancient and natural worlds.Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” remains one of the best-crafted sonnets, as much for its vivid description as for the breadth and depth of its meaning. A poem about the ravages of time and the fallibility of human power, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” exemplifies the use of irony, imagery, and symbolism.Ĭontext matters in poetry, and indeed in all literature, providing the cultural and historical zeitgeist that aids in interpretation and understanding (Glenn & Gray, 2019). Yet the King was wrong to assume that onlookers would “despair” at the sight of his grandiosity (line 11). The King’s memory does indeed live on, told through the traveler’s tale and also through the narrator’s lips and the poem itself. Imagery of sand, sandstone, and the crumbling statue also creates the irony that is central to Shelley’s poem. Even though the sculptor offered tribute to the King, it is as if modern human beings are laughing, “mocking” just as the sculptor might have done all those centuries ago (line 8). The king whose statue is in question was once all-powerful and had commissioned whole cities and yet nothing of those cities remains. ![]() The imagery used to describe the statue is important because it reflects both the main themes of “Ozymandias.” Those themes include the passage of time and the fleeting, ephemeral nature of human power. ![]() In relaying this story, the narrator offers a frame narrative about meeting the traveler and hearing about the statue second hand. After all, the poem is about a traveler “from an antique land,” who tells the story about a crumbled statue of an ancient King who was once powerful (line 1). The poem is also ironic because of the juxtaposition of eternity, represented by imagery of the “yet surviving” (line 7) statue and the “boundless” (line 13)sands, and temporality, represented by the decay.Ĭonclusion: With imagery of the eternal sands of time, into which the man-made statue crumbles, Percy Bysshe Shelley captures the ironic nature of human power and cultural context that captures the prevailing interest in ancient civilizations. The poem is ironic because of the juxtaposition of the King’s certainty of his own power with he is now just a “colossal wreck,” (line 14).Ĭ. Irony, symbolism, and imagery converge in “Ozymandias,” creating a cohesive poetic whole.ī. Another main theme of “Ozymandias” is the fallibility and fleeting nature of authoritarian power in human societies, symbolized by the crumbled statue of a King.Ī. One of the main themes of Shelley’s poem is the passage of time, and how people from different eras perceive reality differently.Ĭ. Although brief, “Ozymandias” is a complex poem with interlocking and layered themes related to time, power, and identity.ī. The Romantic era hearkened to an idealized past, with special affection for ancient civilizations, which is why Shelley uses imagery of ancient Egypt in “Ozymandias.”Ī. Context has an important role to play in poetry due to the cultural and historical implications of the symbols and imagery used in “Ozymandias.”Ĭ. Shelley wrote “Ozymandias” during the period known as Romanticism.ī. Thesis: A poem about the ravages of time and the fallibility of human power, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” exemplifies the use of irony, imagery, and symbolism.Ī.
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