Ozymandias

• Context: Written in 1819

  • Inspired by Rameses 2nd
  • Egyptian pharoahs believed themeselves to be gods and their legacy lasts forever
• Structure :

  Sonnet - theme of love - perhaps for himself or the idea of power

  Rhyme is irregular symbolising the broken statue
• “Nothing beside remains“


  Volta - shifts

  His power is dying and nature takes over

  Human power is ephemeral
• 'boundless and bare' - vastness of desert emphasises how insignificant mankind is compared to nature
• The poem highlights that all human achievements are temporary and will eventually fade away like the statue
• "Look on my works ye mighty, and despair" - arrogance of ozymandias but also shows his downfall as he has no one left to listen to him
• ”King of kings“


  Hyperbole

  • Biblical reference, Jesus was also the king of kings
  • Shows his arrogance
• “ The lone and level sands stretch far away “


  Hyperbole

  • The sands outlast Ozymandias , juxtaposing his power and ego