Ozymandias

Tissue
1. The power of nature
  1. "The lone and level sands stretch far away"
  2. "colossal wreck"
  3. "see how easily they fall away on a sigh, a shift in the direction of the wind"
  4. "The sun shines through their borderlines"
  5. "paper that lets the light shine through"
  6. "boundless and bear"
  7. "Nothing beside remains"
  8. Alliteration of "boundless and bare" and "lone and level sands"
    1. Illustrates how the statue is overpowered by nature
      1. Metaphor to describe how the "sands stretch far away" reiterates this
2. The futility of the human desire for imortality
  1. "two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert"
  2. "Half sunk, a shattered visage lies"
  3. "wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command"
  4. "fine slips from grocery shops ... might fly our lives like paper kites"
  5. "a structure never meant to last"
  6. Short sentence "Nothing beside remains." followed by full stop, which creates caesura
    1. The pause enfisises how the statue is deserted, isolated and forgotten
      1. Ozymandias' God like status and importance has faded over time
3. The power of words/language
  1. "On the pedestal these words appear"
  2. "Nothing beside remains"
  3. "a hand has written the names and histories, who was born to whom , the hight and weight, who died where and how, on which sepia date, pages smoothed and stroked and turned transparent with attention"
  4. "let the daylight break through capitals and monoliths"
My Last Duchess
1. The pride and power of man
  1. "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; look on my works, ye mighty and despair"
  2. "wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command"
  3. "its sculptor well those passions read"
  4. "vast" ... "colossal wreck"
  5. ""Will't please you sit and look at her"
  6. "none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I"
  7. "twas not her husbands presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess' cheek"
  8. "as if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody's gift"
  9. "here you missed or there exceed the mark"
  10. "I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together"
  11. "Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea horse, thought a rarity"
  12. Enjambement of lines like "' "twas not Her husbands presence only, called that spot Of joy into the Duchess' cheek"
    1. Conversational tone, gives the impression that this is normal and everyday for the Duke and that there is nothing wrong with killing the Duchess
      1. Creates an unsettling and disturbing tone
  13. repetition of "spot of joy" demonstrates the Dukes jealousy, insecurity, arogance and outrage
    1. He cannot accept the fact that his power was being chalenged
      1. "plainly set her wits to yours and made excuse"
  14. Use of the adjectives"wrinkled"and "cold" and the verb "sneer"
    1. illustrates the pharaohs arrogance and superiority
      1. Emphasised by the assonance of "cold command"
        Repetition of the sharp vowel sound reflects the brutal and merciless nature of Ozymandias

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Ozymandias

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	Created by Megan Vernon over 7 years ago