Lines 12 - 14

• Lines 12-14

  “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

  Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

  The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
• Translation

  • The ruins of the enormous statue lie alone in an endless, featureless desert
• Shelley’s intention

  • The power of the natural world is also evident in this poem
  • Sand and the desert are used as a metaphor for the passing of time
  • They also suggest the impermanence of human constructions against the ultimate power of nature