ozymandias

• Ozymandias


  Ramesses II
• Bysshe Shelley's lifespan


  1792-1822
• Ozymandias was the ruler of the desert
• The poem describes a statue of Ozymandias in the desert
• The statue has two vast and trunkless legs of stone
• Near the statue is a shattered visage with a wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
• The sculptor well read the passions of Ozymandias, which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things
• The pedestal has the inscription "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
• Nothing remains around the decay of the colossal wreck, only the lone and level sands stretch far away
• The poem is ironic, pointing out the downfall of arrogant and boastful rulers/tyrants, and how nothing lasts forever, not even power
• Ozymandias


  • Strong, authoritative
  • Arrogant, boastful
• Poem


  • 14 lines - sonnet
  • Iambic pentameter - 10 syllables per line
  • Uses various English literary devices
• “ye mighty and despair!”

  • ironic because no one is listening
  • “mighty” - authoritive , adjective, strong
  • ”despair” adjective, passion
• the statue is an allegory for the eventual end of power that everyone must suffer especially the proud
• power, like the statue, is lost to the sands which represents time