Plus One English -Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley - Complete Notes

 

OZYMANDIAS

-        Percy Bysshe Shelley

Critical appreciation of the poem, ‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Ozymandias is a famous sonnet written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, one of the major poets of the Romantic period. The poem deals with the temporary nature of human power, pride and glory. The speaker meets a traveller from an ancient land who tells him about the broken statue of Ozymandias, a once-powerful king. The statue lies in the desert with two huge legs and a broken face partly buried in the sand.

The expression on the face of the statue shows the king’s pride, arrogance and cruelty. The words “wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command” clearly describe his proud and commanding nature. The sculptor had successfully captured the character of the king in the statue. Though the king and his kingdom have disappeared, his expression still remains on the broken statue.

The inscription on the pedestal says, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; / Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” These words show the king’s great pride and confidence in his power. However, the inscription becomes ironic because nothing of his great kingdom remains. The words “Nothing beside remains” show the complete destruction of his power. The phrase “colossal wreck” creates a strong contrast between his glorious past and ruined present.

The poem conveys the important message that earthly power, wealth and glory are temporary. Time and nature eventually destroy all human achievements. At the same time, the poem suggests the lasting power of art, as the sculptor’s work still preserves the character of Ozymandias. Shelley uses imagery, irony, contrast and powerful language effectively. Thus, Ozymandias reminds us that pride and power cannot last forever, while time continues to overcome everything.

 

Let’s read, contemplate and enjoy

1.    The story of Ozymandias, the ‘King of Kings,’ is narrated from a traveller’s perspective. How does this add to the impact of the poem?

The poem reaches us through layers: the speaker meets a traveller, the traveller describes the statue, and the statue's inscription speaks for Ozymandias himself. This adds to the poem's impact in several ways.

·        Credibility: The traveller is an eyewitness from "an antique land", so the ruin feels real rather than imagined.

·        Distance and objectivity: An outsider with no loyalty to the king describes the ruins plainly. The pharaoh's vanity is exposed without the poet preaching.

·        Irony: The king's boast reaches us only second-hand, filtered through a stranger's story. Even his own words survive only because someone happened to pass by.

·        Timelessness: The story is passed from one person to another across centuries, which suggests that the lesson about the fall of power applies in every age.

 

2. The phrases in the bubbles below present a contrast. Why is this contrast significant? Comment.

You may add more to the list.

The phrases "king of kings" and "shattered visage" set the king's claim to supreme power against the broken, half-buried face that is all that remains of him. This contrast is significant because it shows that human pride and power are temporary, while time and nature always win. The ruler who thought himself greater than all other rulers is now a ruin in the sand. It also shows that art (the sculptor's work) outlasts the king's empire.

King of kings	Shattered visage
"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair"	"Nothing beside remains"
Sneer of cold command	Half-sunk, broken face
The pedestal with its proud words	Boundless and bare, lone and level sands
A mighty empire	A "colossal Wreck"

 

2.    Complete the table by identifying the poetic devices in the poem.

Poetic device	Instances from the poem	Significance
Metaphor	"Colossal Wreck"; "the lone and level sands"	It shows the fragility of human power and the inevitability of decay.
Alliteration	"Boundless and bare"	The repeated b sound stresses the emptiness and desolation of the desert around the ruin.
	"Lone and level sands"	The repeated l sound creates a flat, lifeless, endless feel, matching the barren landscape.
Assonance	"Half sunk, a shattered visage lies"	The echoing vowel draws attention to the broken, fallen state of the face.
	"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone"	It slows the line and gives a heavy, solid feel, matching the huge stone legs.
Enjambment	"…Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / Stand in the desert…"	A line continues without pause into the next line to maintain the flow of the poem.
Hyperbole	"King of Kings"	The exaggerated title shows Ozymandias's inflated pride and his belief that he was above all other rulers.
Irony	"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair"	The king invites others to despair at his greatness, but the "Works" lie in ruins, so the reader despairs at how temporary power is.
Personification	"The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed"	The sculptor's hand and the king's heart are given human actions, linking the artist who mocked the king's passions with the king himself, both now long dead.

 

 

 

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