power and conflict

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  “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

  Ozymandias is presented as hubristic.

  • Ozy is so arrogant he considers himself better than other “mighty” leaders
  • “King of Kings” = reference to God. Ozymandias thinks he has absolute, divine power. 
  • “Look” an imperative - boasts about his works and commands others to “Look at my works” (works = statue) 
  • Thinks mighty leaders will “despair” that they are hopeless in comparison to his grand statue
  • Irony = nothing now remains of the statue; it’s destroyed by time/ nature. 
• a shattered visage 

  lies, whose frown, 

  And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold 

  command

  Ozymandias is presented as a cruel leader. 

  • “shattered” = despite attempts to immortalise his power, the statue is now destroyed / exhausted with time, his face is no longer recognisable 

  • The statue couldn’t defend itself against time or nature • Only Ozymandias’ facia-l expressions remain: “frown” “wrinkled” and “sneer” = looks at others with contempt, as if they were worthless and beneath him 

  • “cold command” = alliteration emphasises he’s ‘cold-hearted’ uncaring and controlling
• I wander through each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow: 'William Blake'
• London is presented as


  • Owned and controlled by the wealthy
• "I"


  • First person narrator makes poem more personal
• "wander"


  • Sounds purposeless - could reflect how he feels powerless to change anything
• "chartered"


  • Owned - through the repetition here Blake is showing his anger at how much of London was controlled by the rich
• Juxtaposition of "chartered" and "Thames"


  Blake highlights that humans are trying to control everything, including something as free as a river. Also suggests that nothing can escape being controlled.
• William Blake: 'In every voice, in every ban, The mind-forged manacles I hear:'
• Blake's presentation of the inhabitants of London


  • Trapped and restricted by their own fears
  • Too frightened to fight back and challenge authority
• Blake's repetition of "every"


  • Highlights that the misery is relentless and no one can escape it
  • Begins to build towards the narrator's anger at the situation
• "mind-forged manacles"


  • People are trapped in every way, even in their thoughts and attitudes
  • They have been brainwashed into accepting their citation and don't think to fight back against the restrictions that have been placed on them
• Huge peak


  Black and huge
• Peak


  • Upreared its head
  • With voluntary power instinct
• Huge peak


  Black and huge
• Wordsworth contrasts the speaker's admiration of nature


  To how they are now intimidated by nature
• Peak


  • Upreared its head
  • With voluntary power instinct
• Language used to describe setting

  • Darker and more threatening, compared to the beginning of the poem
• Wordsworth contrasts the speaker's admiration of nature


  To how they are now intimidated by nature
• Verb "upreared"


  Used to build tension and suspense and to show the narrator's own confusion as the mountain rises ominously into view
• Language used to describe setting

  • Darker and more threatening, compared to the beginning of the poem
• Repetition of "huge"


  • Shows that the narrator cannot find the words to accurately describe nature
  • The narrator feels awe and terror at its power
• Verb "upreared"

  Used to build tension and suspense and to show the narrator's own confusion as the mountain rises ominously into view
• Verb "upreared"


  Nature is personified as a sinister monster
• Repetition of "huge"


  • Shows that the narrator cannot find the words to accurately describe nature
  • The narrator feels awe and terror at its power
• Earlier beautiful images of the boat

  "elfin", "swan"
• Verb "upreared"


  Nature is personified as a sinister monster
• Earlier beautiful images of the boat

  "elfin", "swan"
• Duke


  • Obsessed with control and power
  • Sees the Duchess as his possession that he can control
• Even when she is dead


  The Duke still controls the Duchess
• Duke


  • Repetition of pronoun "I" draws attention to his personal power and control
  • Self-centred/obsessed
• Second person pronoun "you"


  • Could be an aside to the Duchess
  • Or showing off his power and control to the messenger and the reader
• The Duke


  • Presented as cruel and vindictive
• Browning's use of the word "smiles"


  • Suggests the Duchess was a kind and gentle character and creates sympathy for her
• The verb "stopped"


  • Signals the end of the Duchess' life
• The word "commands"


  • Emphasises the Duke's power and authority as he is able to command others
• The full stop after "together."

  • Indicates the Duchess' death adding a sense of finality
• The semi-colon that joins these two clauses


  • Emphasises how his "commands" stopped her "smiles" as the events happened simultaneously. It is very close to a confession.
• Someone had blunder'd:: 'Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die:'
• Tennyson: 'Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.'