Ozymandias

Ozymandias

Ozymandias (1818)

I met a traveler from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, 5

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked* them and the heart that fed; imitated

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: 10

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Humans throughout history have striven to overcome their mortality

by leaving something of themselves behind -- evidence of their existence.

The subject of Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" is an ancient king who shared

this common desire, but not in a common way. He not only wanted to leave

behind a record of himself for future generations, he wanted his memory

exalted above that of others, and even above the "Mighty" who would live

after him. He did not want to give up at death the power he had wielded

in life.

The irony in this poem lies in the difference between what

Ozymandias intends -- to hold onto the glory of his works after time takes

its course with him -- and what actually happens. This great monument's

"frown, / And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command" and the inscription

on the pedestal are all meant to inspire fear in the viewer. However,

natural weathering and (possibly) destruction due to conquest have

dismembered this image of the king and rid him of the awe-inspiring

ability he once possessed.

Rhyme plays an elusive part in "Ozymandias," which, when one looks

closer, emphasizes certain aspects of the king. While rhyme is present,

no recognizable rhyme scheme is used. The pattern is as follows (with "/"

representing a slant rhyme): a b a /b a c d c e d /e f /e f (the second

"/e" is a slant of "e," not of the first "/e"). This "boundless" style

seems to represent the way Ozymandias saw himself -- as one in complete

control, bowing to no one. As this rhyme scheme does not rely on

preconceived forms, neither does the "king of kings" believe he will have

to capitulate to any other power (including time). The seemingly

scattered rhymes, not even consistent in pattern within the poem, could

also represent the toppled pieces of the ancient sculpture lying about in

disarray.

The name "OzymandiasУ refers to Ramses II (Ramses the Great),

third king of the 19th dynasty of Egypt. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek

historian in the 1st century BC, recorded the name when he made reference

to the Ramesseum -- Ramses II's mortuary temple -- as "the Tomb of

Ozymandias." "Ozymandias" is actually a flawed spelling of the first part

of Ramses' name. This tie between Shelley's