Ozymandias notes PDF

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Summary

Revision notes for the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley...

Description

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley Context: -

Shelley wrote this poem about the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II

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Ramesses was an arrogant tyrannical ruler who believed his legacy would last forever.

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Shelley criticises the English government under King George III through this poem. He didn’t like oppressive monarchies and therefore sympathised with the French revolution in which the people overthrew the monarchy and took control of the government. Shelley focuses on the decay of Ozymandias’ statue as a warning that Britain should expect the same consequences if King George did not mend his ways.

Form: -

Shelley uses aspects of the Petrarchan Sonnet, Shakespearean sonnet and then goes onto elements of a new sonnet. This structural feature of manipulating the traditional sonnet form, from the ancient sonnet to a newer more modern sonnet, could reflect how power is interchangeable and moves onto other people- it doesn’t stay in one place like Ozymandias thought it would.

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Has a octave, volta and then sestet

“antique land” -

premodifying adjective that suggests the land Ozymandias reigned over was valued and old

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one interpretation is that Ozymandias’ land is high in value but now his kingdom is non existent highlighting the theme that power of time outlasts man made works

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alternatively, the use of “antique” could suggest that the land is steep in history, out of date and old fashioned

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antique is derived from the Latin word “ante” meaning so by using the adjective “antique” perhaps Shelley is demonstrating that the Ozymandias was feared but now he is insignificant, forgotten and his civilisation and power is non existent

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Ozymandias thinks his power, kingdom and might will outlast and survive beyond generations but the only way we are able to remember him is through a half broken statue decaying in the desert which metaphorically represents the loss of his power

“two vast and trunkless legs of stone” -

“trunkless” perhaps metaphorically presents the idea that the statues torso is missing

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the torso is the main part of the body which contains the arteries, heart and other anatomical, vital organs. The fact that the statue is trunkless becomes synonymous with Ozymandias as a dictator. The main part of the body where the heart is located is missing, speaks volumes about him as being a tyrannical leader,

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The lost torso is also representative of how Ozymandias has been forgotten as time has eroded his torso. This highlights the futile struggle to survive where there is nobody around to care.

Rhythm/iambic pentameter and sonnet form -

represents the passage of time as Ozymandias is no longer a feared tyrant but forgotten

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could represent the journey from arrogant, powerful, tyrannical ruler to forgotten and insignificant

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Shelley subverts the traditional theme of sonnet to speak of love by instead using the form to write about dissolution of power and decay.

“the hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed” -

the sculptor is mocking ozymandias (has satirised him)

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Use of humour to criticise his tyranny

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“Mock” also has meaning to make a model of so this is a pun in its double meaning since the sculptor is both making a model of Ozymandias (sculpture) whilst also ridiculing him

“king of kings/ look on my works” -

his arrogance and the influence he had is demonstrated here

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He has almost deified himself with the biblical connotations and repetition of “king” in“king of kings”. The noun “king” is used symbolically in the Bible to signify someone

who possesses supreme power. His arrogance is highlighted but then his power is undermined because he is now longer the all powerful dictator but only crumbling ruins of a statue remain of him showing that his legacy didn’t last forever as he thought it would. The biblical reference here is that Ozymandias thinks he is above God and Jesus. He is too proud and therefore he falls as a punishment (pride before fall). -

The imperative “look” shows he was demanding and authoritative

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Irony has been also used here as no one is listening now since he has been forgotten

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Metaphorically, this could be synonymous with lucifer and “pride before fall”. Ozymandias is full of pride and greed (two of the seven cardinal sins) as he boasts of his works and tells the gods to fear him and despair at all he has accomplished yet when paired with the abrupt simple sentence “nothing beside remains” on the next line there is a sharp juxtaposition between how he thought he would be eternally feared but now nothing remains of him but a crumbling statue

“nothing beside remains” -

notion of powerlessness

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emphasises that the kingdom he had is now gone

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Message: in the face of power and nature, humans are powerless

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Link: he is forgotten since the traveller has to tell him who the statue is

“boundless and bare/ the lone and level sands stretch far away” -

the alliteration of “lone and level” evokes a cadence that echoes the boundless desert landscape.

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The line is elongated which represents the vastness of the desert and hence serves to highlight the insignificance of humans

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Sands are iconic of time

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“far away” conjures a sense of mystery and enigma as though the full extent of nature’s power is truly unknown, incomprehensible and continues endlessly suggesting the arrogance of man

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Alliteration is used three times in this quote, drawing attention to the words that show the ruin and destruction of time and how even the mightiest of civilisations will eventually be forgotten and decay into dust.

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Biblical message: Pride comes before fall. Ozymndias’ boasting about his own greatness seems very hollow now. The lone and level sands outlast the statue which juxtaposes the power of nature with the power and ego of Ozymandias who was conceited and arrogant....