OZYMANDIAS (POEM)

UNIT 13
XI ENGLISH
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
 ABOUT PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
(1792-1822)
• Shelley was English Romantic poet, he never achieved fame while
he was alive. However, he did keep company with some extremely
talented writers. His good friends include
George Gordon Lord Byron and John Keats. Besides, he was
married to Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein.
• Shelley’s best-loved poems include ‘Ozymandias,’ ‘To a Skylark
,’ and ‘Ode to the West Wind’ . Tragically, Shelley died young, at the
age of 29, when the boat, he was sailing got caught in a storm. His
body washed to shore sometime later.
 WHO IS OZYMANDIAS?
• Ramesses II or Ramesses the Great, is known as Ozymandias in
Greek historical sources. He was the third pharaoh of the 19th
Dynasty of Egypt and is often regarded as the mightiest, most
celebrated, and greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Ozymandias is
the Greek name of a pharaoh from Ancient Egypt.
• The name Ozymandias comes from the first part of the regnal(reign
of monarch) name of Ramesses. Shelley’s sonnet refers to a half-
destroyed statue of this pharaoh.
• Ozymandias’ is considered to be a Petrarchan sonnet, even
though the
rhyme scheme varies slightly from the traditional sonnet for
m
. Structurally all sonnets contain fourteen lines
• The rhyme scheme of ‘Ozymandias’ is ABABACDC
EDEFEF. This rhyme scheme differs from the rhyme scheme
of a traditional Petrarchan sonnet
 INTRODUCTION
• Popularity: Ozymandias, a sonnet by Shelley, is a timeless
masterpiece. It was published on June 11, 1818. The poem
was composed to show the fragility of life and fame and to
remind that nothing lasts forever.
• Ozymandias is a Greek name of the Egyptian pharaoh
Ramesses II who ruled around 1300 B.C, and his statue is
said to be the main inspiration of the poem.
 WHAT IS THE THEME OF ‘OZYMANDIAS’?
•The central theme of the poem is the
transience(temporariness) of glory, as well as power.
It also taps on the themes of the futility of life, the fate
of history, destruction of time, antiquity, and
impermanence. The main theme is introduced in the
very beginning where Shelley’s speaker describes the
“colossal Wreck” of Ozymandias half sunk in the lone
desert.
 THEME
• It is a very ironic poem which describes the pride of a man
and the wretched reality of life.
• Man becomes proud by success. He thinks that he has
toppled(conquered) the world.He forgets that life is merciless.
• Time brings all luxuries of life to an end, and death is a
leveler.Shelley considers all feelings of superiority in man as
only an illusion and self-deception.
• Transiency of life and Permanence of art.
 SUMMARY
• The speaker describes meeting a traveler “from an antique land.” The
title, ‘Ozymandias,’ notifies the reader that this land is most probably Egypt since
Ozymandias was what the Greeks called Ramses II. He was a great and terrible pharaoh in
ancient Egypt.
• The traveler tells a story to the speaker. In the story, he describes visiting Egypt. There, he
saw a large and intimidating statue of Ramses in the desert. He can tell that the sculptor must
have known his subject well because it is obvious from the statue’s face that this man was a
great leader, but one who could also be very vicious.
• He describes his sneer as having a “cold command.” Even though the leader was probably
very great, it seems that the only thing that survives from his realm is this statue, which is
half-buried and somewhat falling apart.
 SUMMARY
• The poem comprises emotions of a traveler, who
imagines the story of ruins of a statue in a desert. The
traveler expresses that the statue was broken; two legs
were standing without a body and head was half sunk in
the sand. He also explains the expressions of the statue
such as the “frown” and “sneer of cold command,”
which indicates that the sculptor has made the statue to
speak for itself.
 SUMMARY
• The lifeless statue has the name, Ozymandias, the kings
of kings, on its pedestal. The name indicates the readers
to look at the massive statue of the mighty king, but the
ruined state means that nothing remains after one’s
death, even if he is a king. It shows the keen
observation of the one traveler on hand, and the artistic
skills of a sculptor on the other.
 REPRESENTATIVE OF ART AND
CULTURE
• Ozymandias is written about a ruined statue so it presents
the perspective of a young traveler who provides a detailed
description of the scattered ruins of the statue. The poem
explores the fun of art and beauty in the natural world. The
expression of wonder starts from the first line and runs
throughout the poem. However, what stays in the minds of
the readers is the impacts of the transience of life and
permanence of art.
 TONE
• The overall tone of ‘Ozymandias’ is serious and inspiring.
For instance, the line, “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone,”
arouses both fear and pity in the readers’ hearts.
• The size of the statue undoubtedly makes us wonder about
the greatness and power of the ruler. Yet, they also take pity
on the decaying depiction of the statue. It makes them think
about the nature of human achievement.
• In the next lines, the tone becomes more serious and fearful.
 TONE
•As the poem progresses to the end, it seems the tone
softens a bit. The speaker somehow sympathizes with
the faded glory of the great ruler, Ozymandias. He
emotionally speaks about the inevitability of death and
decay.
 STANZA 1
I MET A TRAVELER FROM AN ....... THE HEART THAT FED
The poet met a traveler from an old and deserted land. The traveler
told him that he saw two big legs standing in the desert. The two
huge legs, which were made of stone, were standing without the
upper part of the body. The other part of the statue lay nearby. The
arms and the face were broken and it was in a miserable condition. It
was half sunk into the sand. The sand and dust covered the body. Yet
the signs of displeasure and expressions of ruthlessness and pride
could be noticed on the face of the sculpture.
 STANZA 1
•The poet says that the skillful hands of the sculptor
had left the accurate expression of the man into his
sculptor. The expression of aggression, power, and
pride was even obvious on the lifeless body of the
King. The poet has tried to explain that immorality
has a permanent impression on our body as well as on
our soul. So, it cannot be erased even we pass away.
 STANZA 2
AND ON THE PEDESTAL ...... STRETCH FAR
AWAY
• There were some texts written in the base of the statue. The
texts tell that the name of the king was Ozymandias. He
was the most powerful king. He ordered the kings to see
his statue and feel belittled. But the tragedy is that now
nothing remains except a lifeless statue of the king. The
huge statue itself tells about the glory of the king. But now
this huge and splendid statue has fallen the victim of
nature.
 STANZA 2

•The broken pieces of the statue are being

vanished in the sand. The sand is stretching
far away and the statue of King Ozymandias
is getting a thick layer of sand on it. It cannot
be seen anywhere.
•You may like:
 ANALYSIS OF LITERARY DEVICES IN
“OZYMANDIAS”
•1) Metaphor: There is one extended metaphor used in the
poem. The statue of Ozymandias metaphorically represents
power, legacy, and command. It clarifies the meanings of
the object and makes it clear that once the king was mighty
and all-powerful. It also shows that the sand has eroded
(destroyed)the actual shape of the statue, representing the
destructive power of time.
• 2) Personification: Shelley has used personification
twice in the poem. The fifth line “And wrinkled lip, and
sneer of cold command,” refers to the broken head of the
statue. However, the lifeless statue Ozymandias is referred
to as a real person. The second example is in the sixth line
of the poem where “Tell that its sculptor well those
passions read” shows as if the statue is commanding the
sculptor how to carve or express his emotions.
•3) Imagery: is used to make the reader feel
things through five senses. The poet has used
images involving a sense of sights such as two
vast and trunk-less legs, shattered face, wrinkled
lip and desert. These images help readers visualize
the status of the broken statue.
•4) Alliteration: is the repetition of the same
consonant sounds in the same lines of the
poetry such as the use of /c/ in “cold
command”, the sound of /b/ in “boundless and
bear” and the sound of /l/ in “lone and level.
• 5) Enjambment: The term refers to lines that
end without any punctuation marks. Shelley
has used enjambments in the second and sixth
line of the poem where it is stated, “Who said
—“Two vast and trunk less legs of stone” and
•“Tell that its sculptor well those passions
read”.
• 6) Assonance:is the repetition of the vowel sounds in
the same line such as the sounds of /a/ in “stand and
sand” and sound of /e/ in “well and read.”
•7) Irony: is a figure of speech used to present the
opposite meanings of the words. Ozymandias’s
description presents him as a mighty, great and fierce
king but in reality, there is nothing but a broken,
lifeless statue.
• 8) Consonance: is the repetition of consonant sounds such
as /s/ in “Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown”.

•Rhyme Scheme : The whole poem follows

• ab ab ac dc ed ef ef
•Didactic: The poem teaches a moral lesson
• Death is eternal and every pride has a fall.
 •Allusion:
• The line “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings” is an
allusion to the actual inscription described in the Greek
historian Diodorus Siculus’s Bibliotheca historica.
 STANZA COMPREHENSION
• Q. What did the traveler see in the desert?
• Ans. The poet met a traveler from an antique land.
The traveler said that two vast and trunkless legs of
stone stood in the desert, and near the legs lay a
shattered visage, half-sunk in the sand. It was the
sculpture of King. Ozymandias who was very cruel
and proud.
•Q. How does the traveler appreciate the art of
the sculptor?
•Ans. The traveler says that the sculptor has very
beautifully carved the expressions of pride, anger,
and scorn in the face of stone. The traveler
appreciates the skill of the artist who perfectly
depicts the inner self of the tyrant on lifeless thing
like a statue.
• Q. What was inscribed on the pedestal of the trunkless
legs of stone?
• Ans. The words inscribed were:
•“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
•Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
•The words engraved suggest that Ozymandias was
very proud of the achievement.
•Q. What conclusion does the poet draw in the
poem, “Ozymandias”?
•Ans. Shelley has highlighted the importance of
good deeds which remain in this world forever and
the vices which have no place in posterity(future
generation). The poem shows the poet’s
revolutionary spirit and his abhorrence(dislikeness)
of cruelty and oppression.
•Q. What message do the words on the base of the
statue convey?
•Ans. The words on the base of the statue convey the
message that all the mighty and the superior, with all
their great works, become non-existent one day. The
inscribed words mean that all feelings of superiority
and vanity are only an illusion.
• Q. What are the expressions on the shattered visage of
Ozymandias?
• Ans. The shattered visage of the king of kings, Ozymandias, depicts
his great pride, anger, unkindness, and scorn for others.
• Q. What kind of feelings does the poem create in the reader’s
mind?
• Ans. Shelley points to the bitter reality of time. An individual does
pass away, and with him all signs of his existence and superiority
disappear. There remains nothing behind but the sand which stands
for wastefulness and total destruction.