𝐎𝐳𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐬

• who is the poet of Ozymandias?

  Percy Bysshe Shelley.
• when was Percy Bysshe Shelley born and when did he die?

  1792 - birth.

  1822 - death.
• which two poems compare best with Ozymandias?

  • Kamikaze.

  • London.
• what year was Ozymandias written?

  1818.
• which monarch was reigning at the time Ozymandias was written?

  King George III.
• what type of poet was Shelley?

  a romantic poet.
• what is a romantic poet?

  • emotion rather than reason.

  • inspired by nature.

  • war is futile.

  • disliked religion and monarchy.
• who is Ozymandias based on?

  the Egyptian pharaoh, Rameses II.
• line 1; 'i met a traveller'. what is Shelley trying to do here?


  he is distancing himself from being the poem's speaker as he goes on to criticise the monarchy.
• line 3; 'desert'. what does this symbolise?

  lifelessness.
• line 4-5; 'half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command'. what technique has Shelley used, and why?

  an asyndetic list to suggest the pharaoh is unpleasant and cruel.
• line 8; 'the hand that mocked them'. what is Shelley doing here?


  he is mocking/criticising King George III and Rameses II.
• line 9; 'pedestal'. what does this suggest about the pharaoh's power?

  it is undeserved and ironic.
• line 10; 'my name is Ozymandias, king of kings'. what imagery does this hold and what does it suggest?


  religious imagery - Jesus is referred to as the king of kings. Rameses II has named himself this to demonstrate a power craze.
• line 11; 'look on my works'. what does this symbolise about Rameses II?


  he expects his empire to survive.
• line 13; 'boundless and bare'. what technique is used here and what does it suggest?

  plosive alliteration. it symbolises that nature can be harsh.
• line 14; 'lone and level'. what technique is used here?


  lulling alliteration which is suggestive of cruel acts.
• line 14; 'stretch far away'. what does this emphasise?


  the statue is now insignificant; only travellers know it exists.
• what is the form of Ozymandias?

  a sonnet.
• what does the form of Ozymandias suggest?

  the short and corrupt reign of Ozymandias.