ozymandias

• sneer of cold command


  sneer - contemptuous expression - sculptor thought he was arrogant -> makes use question morality and ethics of those in power (link to message)

  alliteration 'c' - harsh sound - detached and emotionless demeanour
• half-sunk, a chattered visage lies

  shattered - obliterated - no one can tell who he is anymore - human/ man's power is fleeting

  irony - even most powerful men can't control effects of nature and time
• colossal wreck, boundless and bare

  oxymoron - 'colossal wreck' - massive but pointless

  alliteration 'b' emphasises how abandoned/ powerless it is

  bare - shows how simplistic humans are compared to actual gods

  wreck - ruined state shows how human achievements are insignificant to the passing of time & nature
• two vast and trunkless legs of stone

  vast - empty/ hollow -> inevitable decline of empires

  legs - clinging onto last shreds of power / not standing for much longer

  'trunkless' - emphasises absence of statue's body -> even the 'mightiest' leaders and civilisations will be taken over by nature
• king of kings


  vain tone - he believed he was undefeatable and THE best ruler

  irony - attempting to assert his dominance & establish his legacy -> emptiness of his claims & serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of excessive pride and hubris
• structure


  irregular rhyme scheme - symbolic of broken statue

  sonnet - typically a love poem -> mirrors ozymandias' egotistical/ narcisisstic love for himself

  • petrarchan and shakespearian sonnet - switch between the 2 - shelley breaking traditions and shows uncertainty of man's power
• context

  • expelled from oxford for his politically radical views
  • based on egyptian pharoah (Ramesses II) - believed themselves to be gods in mortal form & their legacy would last forever
  • shelley strongly believed in freedom and equality ( was also an atheist)
  • presents ozymandias as spiteful and scornful to persuade readers that successful leaders rule for all not just themselves
  • "king of kings" - biblical term to describe the Christian God - O is fragile and temporary - shelley calls to question the concept of god (atheist)
  • commenting on power held by the monarchy in britain