Ozymandius

• QUOTATION 1: "whose frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command."
• what does "whose frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command" reveal?

  • "frown"- pejoratives (negative words) make him seem hostile
  • "sneer"- to mock, which he enjoys -> sadistic
  • "cold" makes him seem callous- lacks empathy

  has no warmth

  • "command" connotantes sense of authority

  like dictator

  believes everyone is inferior, should follow him

  +megalomaniac

  • "c,c"- guttural alliteration- sounds like choking; the sounds of peopling suffocating over this oppressiveness under his reign
• what does the repetition of "and" reveal?

  • "and" repeated- polysyndenton- conveys ongoing nature of his abuse

  prolonged negative effect on his people
• what does the structure of the quotation reveal?

  • caesura- slows down the pace of the line

  represents how long the people had to endure suffering
• QUOTATION 2: "My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
• what dies "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" reveal?

  • "my"- possessive pronoun, makes him selfish and greedy
  • "is"- present tense, like he believes his power is going to last forever.
  • "Kings" repeated- gives himself elevated status, biblical reference to Jesus, believes he has a God- Like status

  +hubris

  +megalomaniac

  • 3rd person view- declaring his name, showing his

  +narcism

  +arrogance

  +believes name holds power and value

  "!" emphasis image of aggression, as if threatening or frightening
• QUOTATION 3" "Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretched far away."
• what does "Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away." reveal?

  • "colossal wreck"- oxymoronic language

  "colossal"- something huge

  "wreck"- something that is destroyed

  oxymoron- emphasis how powerful he was, yet how quickly he lost his power

  • "l,l" alliteration- creates an echo effect

  desert is empty, no one looked after his statue -> result of abuse od

  f power

  "s,s" sibilance- peaceful tone, reflects how tranquil it became after his death

  juxtaposed between his arrogance and the demise of his empire
• what is ozymandius structure?

  • 14 lines- sonnet form -> used for romanti/ love poems

  can be viewed as Shelly's love letter to nature

  • no rhyme scheme -> expresses Shelley breaking bounds, shows rebelling and breaking rules
  • poem is a mockery to real life Ramises the 2nd and his hubris
  • ekphrastic - poem about a work of art