those in power are deluded in their belief
that there power is supreme and
invincible
power does not last
percy shelley
1792-1822
came from a wealthy family
drowned at sea at the age of 29
was not successful during his own life time
wrote when king george the third was on the throne
thought of as the insperation of this poem
second genaration of romantic poets
dislike of urban life
love of the supernatural
use of everyday language
against religion and political control
against voilence and war
literal meaning of the poem
They met a traveller from a old land who saw two stone legs
standing in the desert
near the legs on the sand is the head of the
statue and the head is shattered and cracked.
Got a nasty powerful look on its face
at the foot of the statue engraved is 'my name is
ozymandias king of kings; look on my works, ye
mighty and despair'
statue is isolated around nothing
structure and form
sonnet- genre of love poem
first 8 lines (octave) pose a problem
last 6 lines (sestet) solves the problem
line 9 (volta) is a sharp turn which brings about the move to the resolution
abba abba rhyme sheme
ozymandias is a mixture of two sonnet forms.
this shows that us that using the old sonnet style first shows that when he goes
into using the 'new' sonnet form which is shakespearean sonnet form it shows
that nothing lasts forever
old power is taken over by new power
nothing lasts forever not even the form of the sonnet
langauge
OZYMANDIAS
comes from ramses the second
'ozy' comes from the greek
'ozium' meaning to breathe.
'mandias' comes from the
greek 'mandate' meaning 'to
rule'
even the title suggest power and control
'I met a traveller'
writer is distancing himself from his
actaul life in order to critisize king
George
'sunk' 'shattered' 'frown' 'wrinkled' 'sneer'
this negative langauge makes it clear the
poem is an attack and not a praising of the
powerful
'cold command' repetition of the hard 'c'
sound reflects the harsh nature of
ozymandias
idea of anger and aggression
'boundless and bare' alliteration is used to emphasise the emptiness
'the lone and level sands
stretch far away'= the
desert outlives the statue
nature has outlived the power
irony as ozymandias is
expected to live forever
but his statue is now
crumpling away