Lines 1 - 2

• “ I met a traveller from an antique land,

  Who said - ”
• Translation

  • The poem begins in the first person, but then instantly passes any responsibility for the opinions within the poem on to a stranger
  • The narrator meets an unnamed traveller, and the poem is then recounted from the perspective of this stranger
• Shelley’s intention

  • Shelley was anti monarchy and felt that the king at the time of writing, King George III, had outstayed his welcome
  • Shelley probably wanted to distance himself from the political messages of the poem, so he opened his poem with the detached narrative of a traveller
  • Shelley also used Ozymandias as an  allegory for King George III. The detached narrator meant that Shelley was free to comment on the monarchy as he wished because the views were being presented as the views of someone else