Ozymandias + Prelude

• • both poems are influenced by Romantics, and explore the consequeces of hubis against the power of nature
  • both poems display the fleeting power of nature compared to the transcient nature of power
• • Shelley uses dramatic language to describe the statue of Ozymandias, from its past glory, to its now lifeless state
  • "Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!" - juxtaposes arrogance with desolation around him, which highlights the futility of human ambition
  • "boundless and "bare" of desert - emphasises emptiness, which is parallel to transcience of human power compared to the permanence of nature
• • Ozymandias is in the form of a sonnet, which usually presents control
  • the content corrupts the order
  • a sonnet is usually with 14 lines, and usually conveys romantic themes, but Ozymandias discusses themes like hubris
  • poem has Petrarchan sonnet structure with a shift of focus from the ruined statue, to the iron of the inscription
  • corrupt sonnet form reflects the corrupt love for control Ozymandias has
• • Shelley is a Romantic poet and shows this through criticising pride, reflecting Romantism of distain to authority and the attempt to control nature
  • ruined statue in desert symbolises how nature will always prevail against humanity - ties into Romantic belief of how human power is fragile
  • nature is presented as destructive and enduring
• • Wordsworth uses descriptions of nature to present its power
  • "a huge black peak, black and huge" - imposing presence of nature, it being fearful and fascinating
  • similar to how the speaker shifts from being excited to fearing the permeance of nature - mirrors his emotional journey
• • Wordsworth has written the poem in blank verse which shows a feeling of calmness
  • it can also reflect the troubled nature of the mind of Wordsworth as he notices he is inferior to nature
  • structure becomes longer to reflect internal journey to becoming more maturing in understanding nature's power