The ti tl e refer s to a G reek name fo r the Egypti an ki ng

Mi x ture o f Petr ar chan

(a Pharao h), Rams es II, who had a huge s tatue o f
(o ctave & s es tet) &
hi ms el f bui l t as a mo nument to hi s po wer.
Shakes pear ean (l i ne 1-4
rhymi ng AB AB ) s o nnet i n
i ambi c pentameter.
Ozymandias
Li nes 1-5 des cri be
Percy Bysshe Shelley
the s tatue.

Li nes 6-8 des cri be (1792-1822)

the s cul pto r.
A pai r o f huge s to ne
l eggs wi th no bo dy Image: The “vi s age”
s tandi ng i n the mi ddl e (face) o f the s cul ptur e i s
o f the des ert. “a” assonance Ancient Egypt
parti al l y burr i ed i n the
It i s l i ke the who l e s tatue
I met a traveller from an antique land, s and, near the l egs .
i s “s hattered”. W hat “t” alliteration Huge Without a torso The face i s no t
happened to the r es t o f the Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone co mpl etery s hattered
s tatue – w ar, natural “a” assonance becaus e o ne can s ti l l
Enjambment
di s as ter? s ee a “fro w n”, “wr i nkl ed
Stand in the desert...Near them, on the sand,
The s cul pto r under s to o d l i p”, and a “s neer ”.
Partally burried “s” alliteration Face
& repr o duced ex actl y the The s tatue w as pro babl y
faci al features & Half sunk, a shattered visage* lies, whose frown,
ups et abo ut s o methi ng:
“pas s i o ns ” o f the angr y Mocking smile “c” alliteration he i s fr o wni ng and
r ul er. And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, 5 s neeri ng.
The “pas s i o ns ” s ti l l Anastrophe Emotions Understood
The “s neer ” makes hi m
s urvi ve becaus e they are Tell that its sculptor well those passions read* i n “co l d co mmand”.
“s tamped” o n the
Fragments (face) of the statue Enjambment
fr agments (face) o f the Artistic process The heart that
s tatue. Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, “fed”/no uri s hed the
Synecdoche Sculptor Personification Personification pas s i o ns o f the pharao h.
Li nes 6-7: C o ntras t
betw een l i fe & death: The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: Two -fo l d meani ng: ex ampl e
fr agments (face) o f the o f l ex i cal po l ys emy: 1) made
s tatue ar e cal l ed “l i fel es s fun o f o r 2) co pi ed/i mi tated.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
thi ngs ”, the s ul pto r & Li ne 10 reveal s to us w ho m thi s
s tatues s ubj ect i s dead. s tatue r epres ents . Li nes 10-11 draws
The “pas s i o ns ” s ti l l 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: 10
the reader ' s attenti o n to the w o rds o n
s urvi ve. Ironic the bas e o f the s tatue.
Cower (crouch) in fear
“Wo rks : Refer ri ng to the Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
He i s ar ro gant,
famo us templ es he
“b” alliteration “r” alliteration bel i eved that he w as s o
co ns tructed at Abu
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay po w er ful & the gr eates t
Si mbel & Thebes o r huge Nothing
Infinite/mo boundaries Enjambment o f rul er s .
s tatues o f hi m, as thi s grows
o ne. Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare Hi s enemi es wo ul d “des pai r ” -
Li ne 12 r emi nds us that “l” alliteration “s” alliteration co w er (cro uch do wn) i n fear –
“no thi ng” r emai ns The lone and level sands stretch far away. 14
at the s i ght o f al l the
bes i des the face, l egs & w o nder ful w o rks that had been
pedes tal . Everythi ng l i es erected i n the pharao h' s name
i n rui ns & there i s and i n hi s ho no ur.
no thi ng el s e but the “C o l o s s al ” ephas i s es the
encr o achi ng/i ntr udi ng Visage* - face s co pe o f O z ymandi as ' s
s and o f the des er t. ambi ti o ns , thus the
read* - understood “vas t” (huge) s tatue.

Anastrophe - The inversion of the usual order of words.

Enjambment: The running on of the thought from one line, couplet, or stanza to the next without a
syntactical break/punctuated pause.
Synecdoche - A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa.
Lexical polysemy: The coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase.

What is the poem about?

What is the subject of the poem?
 A traveller has told the poet of a broken statue of a great pharaoh which lies half-buried in the desert
sands of Egypt. It reminded the traveller of how the mighty have fallen, how a great pharraoh – who
believed himself invincible – hs become but a distant memory whose statue even has fallen into decay
and ruin.

Who is speaking?
 There are several different voices in this poem that put some distance between us and Ozymandias.
 First there is the speaker of the poem, the guy who meets the traveler from an "antique land."
1st person narrative “I”.
 Then the traveller's voice occupies the rest of the poem. The traveller tells the story to the poet who
tells it to us.
 Most of the poem consists of the traveler's description of the statue lying in the desert, except for lines
10-11 where he tells us what the inscription on the statue says; and while the traveler speaks these lines,
they really belong to Ozymandias, making him, in a sense, the third speaker in this polyphonic (or
many-voiced) poem.

Who is the narrator speaking to?

 The traveller tells a story to the narrator who tells it to us (the readers).

What is the location/setting of the poem?

 Ozymandias" has two settings.
 The first is the place where the narrator meets the traveler (line 1). We do not know where this
encounter takes place. It could be in the speaker's head, in a dream, on the street, or in the desert.
 The second is the setting in the traveler's tale about a crumbling statue of an Egyptian king (pharaoh)
in the sands of Egypt.

Themes and messages of the poem:

 "Ozymandias" explores the question of what happens to tyrant kings, and to despotic world leaders
more generally. As we all know, nothing lasts forever; that means even the very worst political leaders –
no matter how much they boast – all die at some point.

 Theme of the Octave (lines 1-8): Describes what the traveller saw: the ruins of the ancient
statue of Ozymandias. He describes the charactheristics of the statue, the frown, etc.
 Theme of the Sestet (lines 9-14): Dwells on the irony of the downfall of tyranny. The great
pharaoh who believed he ruled the entire world, is now dead and long forgotten so that even his statue
lies in ruins, sinking into the desert.

Attitudes and feelings in the poem:

Emotions and feelings of the speaker:
 The speaker feels despair at the impermanence of everything. We all know we are going to die, there
is no way of avoiding death, yet whenever something happens which reminds us of our own mortality we
cannot help but feel despair too.

Tone of the poem:

 Ironic, blunt (matter-of-fact) and satarical.

Form and structure of the poem (rhyme, rhythm, line length, stanza length, etc.):
 The rhyme scheme is initially Shakespearean, as the first four lines rhyme ABAB.
But then the poem gets strange: at lines 5-8 the rhyme scheme is ACDC, rather than the expected
CDCD.
For lines 9-12, the rhyme scheme is EDEF, rather than EFEF.
Finally, instead of a concluding couplet we get another EF group.
 Rhyme scheme can be schematized as follows: ABABACDCEDEFEF.

Type of poem:
 Mixture of Petrarchan (octave & sestet) & Shakespearean (line 1-4 rhyming ABAB) sonnet in iambic
pentameter.

Poetic devices (e.g. metaphors, similes, enjambment, alliteration, personification,

etc.):
 Explained in the following questions and in the poem above.

Personal response to the poem (how do I feel, what impact does the poem have on
me):
 When reading this poem I feel a sense of despair at the ompermenance of everything. This poem is
a reminder of our own mortality and the fact that we all are going to die; there is no way of avoiding
death.
 YOUR PERSONAL RESPONSE!
 Questions from knowledge4africa:

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert...

Which land is the poet referring to when the poet speaks of “an antique land”?
• Ancient Egypt.

Which paharaoh does 'Ozymandias' represent?

• The Egyptian king, Ramses II, who had a huge statue of himself built as a monument to his
power.
• He lived from 1279 to 1213 B.C.E and was some 96 years old when he died.
• He had 200 wives and concubines, with 96 sons and 60 daughters.

What words tell us that the poet had not personally witnessed the scene he is
describing?
• Lines 1-2: “I met a traveller from an antique land,/Who said:”
• The whole story/poem is based on what the traveller apparently told the poet.

What does the poet mean when he says that the legs of stone were “vast” and
“trunkless”?
• The legs were huge and detached from the body of the statue.

Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

Why should the “shattered visage” be “half sunk”?

• The stone face (“visage”) from the statue of Ramses II was lying in the desert sand. As the wind
of ages blew, the sand covered the statue further and further, making it seem as if it was sinking
into the sand.
• Before modern times, the Sphinx had to be dig out of the sand regularly as it became covered,
and looked as though it was sinking.
What words tells us that the sculptor was accurate in his craftmanship?
• The poet tells us that the sculptor “well those passions read”.

Quote FOUR words or sets of words which tell us that the pharaoh, whose image is
captured in stone, had little affection for his people.
• “frown”
• “wrinkled up”
• “sneer of cold command”
• “the hand that mocked him”

And on the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Comment on the IRONY of the pharaoh's words, “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and
despair!”
• The pharaoh, in his arrogance, believed that he was so powerful and the greatest of rulers – the
“king of kings”.
• His works – public buildings/temples, statues, etc. - were so great that everyone would cower
(crouch down) in fear when they observed them.
• The irony, however, is that these great works have collapsed and lie in ruins everywhere, and few
can even remember who Ramses II was.
• Such is the fate of the great tyrants.

To whom is Ozymandias referring when he speaks of “ye Mighty”? Why should they
“despair”?
• He is presumably referring to all his enemies.
• They would “despair” - cower (crouch down) in fear – at the sight of all the wonderful public
works that had been erected in the pharaoh's name and in his honour.
• As soon as they saw these statues and monuments, they would know that such great works would
indicate a truly powerful ruler.
• They would then tremble in fear at what he would do to them and their puny enemies.

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
What does the poet mean when he says that “Nothing beside remains”?
• Nothing remains besides the face, legs and pedestal of the statue.
• Everything lies in ruins and there is nothing else but the encroaching/intruding sand of the desert.

Comment on these words (lines 12-14) as a conclusion to the sonnet.

• Notice how the poet stresses the decay of the wreckage.
• The desert has encroached/intrude and destroyed even the last symbols of the pharaoh's power.
• The desert stretches as far as the eye can see. It is so vast (huge) that it has no
boundaries/limitless (“boundless”) and nothing grows there (“bare”).
• The sand is devoid/lacking of vegetation and of people (“lone”). This was once a populated
land during the time of the pharaoh.
• Even the symbols of the pharaoh's power are vanishing.