Power and Conflict

• Ozymandias meaning

  Told about an unnamed King, although we know it's about Rameses II. Talks about his statue and the grandiose self-view it represented, only to show how time and nature have worn it away into obscurity. Represents the power of nature and the powerlessness of humans. Pride, arrogance, power, monarchy
• "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert"

  Ozymandias: out of place, barren, bizarre, powerless, destruction
• "Boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away"

  Ozymandias: Alliteration emphasises empty feeling
• "lone and level sands"

  Ozymandias: nature is in control, it doesn't need others to validate its power
• "I met a traveller from an ancient land"

  Ozymandias: mythical, vague
• Ozymandias structure

  Sonnet (generally romantic so may be mocking Ozyandias' self-love). Irregular rhyme scheme, trying to gain control but vanquished by nature. Volta at line 9 ("And on the pedestal")
• "The hand that mock'd them"

  Ozymandias: Ironic
• "Look on my works ye mighty and despair! Nothing beside remains."

  Ozymandias: Irony, abrupt because nature doesn't need to make a big thing of justifying its power
• "sneer of cold command"

  Ozymandias: Alliteration makes it aggressive, he's arrogant
• "stamp'd on these lifeless things"

  Ozymandias: forceful but meaningless
• "king of kings"

  Ozymandias: self-aggrandising
• "round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away"

  Ozymandias: overwhelming emptiness and impermanence
• Ozymandias personal response

  The fact that the name of the monarch isn't in the body of the poem suggests it could be applied to all monarchs, showing they aren't unique and will all eventually fade into irrelevance. The poem seems to vindicate his victims since it portrays his cruelty and how that never actually got him the infamy he wanted.
• Ozymandias context

  Inspired by the 'recent' unearthing of part of a statue of the Pharoah Rameses II. The Pharaohs were seen as gods in mortal form. We can see references to the translation of the statue's base in Ozymandias: "King of Kings am I, Ozymandias. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass one of my works."
• Percy Bysshe Shelley

  Romantic poet, radical anti-monarchy views inspired by the French Revolution, against absolute power and the oppression of ordinary people.

  Wrote Ozymandias in 1817, only really became famous after he died
• Romantic poetry

  Late 18th and early 19th century movement reacting against the 'Enlightenment' and its increased emphasis on rationality and science. Expolored the concept of the sublime (feelings of awe and great emotion) in relation to nature. Had anti-establishment politics (pro-individual, anti-monarchy, anti-tyranny, anti-dogmatism). Their work was focused on improving society in some way by critiquing things that caused harm and offering solutions
• Ozymandias + My Last Duchess

  Human power and pride, representation in art
• Ozymandias + The Prelude, Storm on the Island, Exposure

  Nature
• Ozymandias + London

  Tyranny
• Ozymandias + Checking Out Me History

  History
• London meaning

  Discusses the conditions of wealth inequality in London and the role people in power have to play in the suffering of the poor. Blake also views the poor as complicit in their own oppression since they do not use their own power to overcome it.
• London tone

  Critical of monarchy, church, private property.

  Speaks from an outside perspective, as he can see through the idea that this suffering is inevitable.
• Ozymandias tone

  Mythical, vague, critical of power
• "Marks of weakness, marks of woe"

  London: Alliteration on W makes it woeful. Repetition of marks gives an incessant rhythm
• "Mind-forged manacles"

  London: Self-inflicted, societal constraints
• "The hapless soldiers sigh runs in blood down palace walls"

  London: placing blame on the monarchy. the soldier has no purpose in his life
• London structure

  Four stanzas with regular alternate rhyming scheme gives it a walking pace and shows the constraints put on the people that stop them reaching for a better life. The last line of each stanza delivers a powerful statement to summarise the message and drive it home
• "The youthful harlot"

  London: contrasting youth with sexuality and possible exploitation, portrays society as failed
• "marriage hearse"

  London: critical of social institutions like marriage, marriage is the end of your life, subversive, oxymoronic
• "chartered street" and "chartered Thames"

  London: everything is owned, even the water where people can travel, no freedom
• London personal response

  The narrator sees himself as enlightened above the people of London, he understands their oppression and how to address it. He blames the institutions such as the church and monarchy that hold power but he also blames the people for being complacent and staying within the boundaries of the society that oppresses them. He wants to enlighten others for some kind of revolution.
• William Blake


  Romantic poet, radical anti-monarchy views inspired by French Revolution, also created visual art and his own system of mysticism. He wasn't recognised much in his life, however, he saw his work as important for his peers to read
• London Context

  Set during a time of great poverty in England. Children often worked and people were malnourished. The Industrial Revolution meant many worked in oppressive factories and also released a lot of pollution, making people ill and giving the city a gloomy atmosphere. Britain was at war with France. Women's and worker's rights were abysmal.

  Published 1794.
• London + My Last Duchess, ozymandias

  tyranny
• London + Tissue, checking out me history

  Societal conflict, social injustice
• London + The emigree, the prelude

  experience of a setting
• The Charge of the Light Brigade meaning

  A dramatic recount of a battle of the Crimean War where British soldiers were ordered to charge right into enemy cannon fire. The narrator honours the soldiers and generally seems supportive of war.
• "Into the Valley of Death"

  charge of the light brigade: reference to bible portrays it as a solemn and important action
• "Jaws of death" and "mouth of Hell"

  charge of the light brigade: personifies death, enemy is anti-christ, exaggerates futility
• "Flash'd all their sabres bare, flash'd as they turn'd in air, sabring the gunners there"

  charge of the light brigade: powerful but vulnerable, majestic, visually impressive