Ozymandius: Context & Techniques

• OZYMANDIUS:

  • Romantic poem
  • Anti-monarchy and pacifist
  • Supportive of social justice
  • Poetry was used to spread messages and political ideas which
  • Temporary and futile nature of human power
• HISTORICAL CONTEXT:

  • Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II (Ozymandias): thought himself very powerful and is remembered for his tyranny and military exploits
  • King George III: king at the time of the writing
  • This is reflected in the “sneer of cold command” that initiates military actions
  • He engaged in military conflicts and was remembered for oppression and tyranny. Many believed he had outstayed his welcome
  • Shelley was a pacifist and positioned himself against George’s military exploits
• HUMAN NATURE CONTEXT:

  • The poem touches on how human power corrupts and doesn’t last
  • The decay of the statue reflects exploits
  • Overall, the poet is criticises power, arrogance and pride.
  • It mocks rulers' for thinking they will be any different from the previous one
  • Shelley was criticising systems in which an individual is given so much power that, despite abuse of it.
• HUMAN NATURE CONTEXT:

  • He is also criticising all power being centered on a person who obtains their importance from an image and perceived  divine right to power
  • The poem also explores the conflict between humans and memory, as Ozymandias was largely forgotten, even though he thought his memory would last forever
  • The poem also touches on the lasting power of art and words
  • Many people may not have remembered Ozymandias, but part of the statue remained, as well as the words placed on the inscription
• The Power of Nature 

  • Feeling of the people experience when they see awesome landscapes, or find themselves in extreme situations which create feelings of both fear and admiration
  • By describing the desert as “boundless and bare” and “lone and level”, Shelley communicates the vast, powerful extent of nature
  • He also comments on nature’s ability to outlive all other forms of power (and deem them insignificant by comparison)
  • The “boundless” desert easily outlives the now-forgotten king Ozymandias
• What message was Shelley trying to convey with the poem Ozymandias? 

  The major theme behind "Ozymandias" is that all power is temporary, no matter how prideful or tyrannical a ruler is.
• Throughout the poem, Ramesses' pride is evident, from the boastful inscription where he declares himself a "king of kings" to the "sneer of cold command" on his statue. However, "Ozymandias" makes it clear that every person, even the most powerful person in the land, will eventually be brought low, their name nearly forgotten and monuments to their power becoming buried in the sand.
• Although the poem only discusses Ozymandias, it implies that all rulers, dynasties, and political regimes will eventually crumble as well, as nothing can withstand time forever. At the time the poem was written, Napoleon had recently fallen from power and was living in exile, after years of ruling and invading much of Europe. His fate is not unlike Ozymandias'.
• Sonnet

  "Ozymandias" is a sonnet, which is a type of poetic structure. All sonnets, including "Ozymandias" are fourteen lines long and written in iambic pentameter. The iambic pentameter sounds more natural than many other rhythms, but it still has a purposeful enough rhythm to easily differentiate it from normal speech (even in the 1800s no one would naturally speak the way "Ozymandias" was written).

  Contrary to many other sonnets though, "Ozymandias" has an unusual rhyming scheme
• Alliteration

  Alliteration is the repetition of a sound or letter at the beginning of multiple words in a sentence or paragraph. There are several instances of alliteration in "Ozymandias" including the phrases "cold command" and " boundless and bare."

  The repetition in alliteration often makes a poem sound more interesting and pleasant
• Assonance

  Assonance is the repetition of vowel. It occurs in the phrase "Half sunk a shattered visage lies." The short "a" sound in "half" and "shattered" is repeated. The "a" sound is actually repeated throughout the poem, in words like "traveller," "antique," "vast," and even "Ozymandias" himself. Like alliteration, assonance can be used to make a poem more interesting and enjoyable to listen to.
• Enjambment

  Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence beyond a line.

  In "Ozymandias" there are numerous examples of enjambment, including "Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand," and "Nothing beside remains.

  Enjambment is a way for the poet to build action and tension within a poem. The tension comes from the fact that the poet's thought isn't finished at the end of a sentence. Enjambment can also create drama, especially when the following line isn't what the reader expected it to be.

   
• Irony

  Irony is when tone or exaggeration is used to convey a meaning opposite to what's being literally said. The Ozymandias meaning is full of irony. In the poem, Shelley contrasts Ozymandias' boastful words of power in with the image of his ruined statue lying broken and forgotten in the sand. Ozymandias might have been powerful when he ordered those words written, but that power is now long gone, and his boasts now seem slightly silly in the present time.