Essay plan

• Intro: 

  In ‘Ozymandias’ Shelley presents the passage of time as overpowering and almighty, using it as a tool to present to the readers the transience of political power and the provisional nature of empires. 
• Para 1

  Presents the theme as diminishing of power.

  ’I met a traveller’ - begins with unnamed speaker giving an anecdote 

  • creates an extra layer of mediation between reader and Ozymandias - emphasises the length of time since he was in power and the changes that have occured since.
  • Enforced by  ‘antique land’ - shows how aged his empire is and irrelevant 
  • I know poem was inspired by a statue of ramesses II that had just been uncovered in Egypt and written for a challenge among friends - many archeological discoveries at time of writing in egypt
• Presents the theme as destructive 

  ‘two vast and trunkless legs of stone’ - amputated / fallen away which is violent and undignified to only his legs which undermines the power he once held 

  sibilance shows the swish of time and sand destroying power 

  therefore presents time as destructive of human power and all - powerful / having control over how long empires last .

  I know at time of writing George III was on the throne - a tyrannical monarch focused on empire building

  Para 2
• Presents theme as mocking of idea human could hold any long-term power / significance 

  ’In the desert…’  -  ellipsis mimics break of statue and mocs hubristic nature of Ramasses as his image is destroyed 

  ‘half sunk, a shattered visage lies’ - rendered even less - emphasises destructive nature of time 

  • face shattered belittles Ozymandias and shows the power of time ruling over political power 

  therefore presents time as having much more overwhelming power than human / politics

  I know Shelley was radical in his political views and expelled from oxford

  
  

  Para 3
• Presents theme as unbound and overwhelming of anything else 

  ‘Boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away’ - elongated vowel sounds mimic vast desert and shows time and nature have no confines but political power and empire are strained by time 

  vast desert but his statue is only part of it - time and nature sweet away concrete power represents nature's victory over culture and time wiping out humanity and history 


  Para 4
• Throughout the poem Shelley reveals the shattered image bit by bit - ‘legs’ , ‘visage’ , ‘pedestal’ , which mirrors how time slowly reduced his political image to fragments, having a cinematic effect and an impactful impression to the reader that everything is temporary except for time itself, which has the power to was away any other power, strong or weak. 


  Conclusion