Ozymandias

• what is the statue a reminder of

  • all power is ephemeral and all dictators and leaders will be overcome by the power of nature in the end
• who was Percy Shelly?

  • romantic poet
  • he found nature to be inspiring but also something to be feared
  • antimonarchy
• why is it significant that shelly was an antimonarchist

  • the poem is aimed at those in power as he was seeking to expose and critique those in power
• 'look on my works ye mighty and despair'

  • imperative verb 'look' - he is full of arrogance and he is wanting to control everyone. Shelley uses dramatic irony as his statue is in a barren desert which no one sees.
  • 'mighty and despair' - he is a tyrant and he sees his dictatorship as powerful - displays the oppression he forced upon his people
• 'a shattered visage'

  • irony as he wanted his greatness and power to be displayed in his statue however it captured his cruelty and indifference instead.
  • 'shattered' - his image has been destroyed by nature
• 'which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things'

  • 'survive' - suggesting that nature outlives ozy as him and his statue is now 'lifeless'
  • Percy may be citiquing and mocking his belief that his power would outlive nature
• 'sneer of cold command'

  • 'sneer' - depicts ozy's arrogance and condesending behaviour
  • 'cold command' - plosive alliteration to convey his harshness
• 'the lone and level sands stretch far away'

  • creates vivid imagery of a desert, conveying isolation
  • nature streches on and on forever, and it is ever lasting, unlike the power of man
  • the desert consumes ozy which is ironic as he tried to be remembered forever with his statue