OZYMANDIAS- PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

OZYMANDIAS- PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

1. PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

   • born 1792
   • english romantic poet
   • married mary shelley (author of frankenstein)
   • dad was a member of parliament
   • friends with lord byron
   • inspired by william godwin; freedom and equality
   • went oxford; was expelled for writing about atheism
   • mary shelley was william godwin's daughter
   • 1822; drowned
   • he had 3 beliefs about the human mind; emotions (believed in underlying impulses), imagination (believed it worked hand in hand with our senses) and memory (curious as to how it works)

2. STRUCTURE

   • sonnet; 14 lines
     • sonnets are usually used romantically; suggests that Ozymandias was in love with the idea of power
   • iambic pentameter; portrays natural speech
   • first person
   • dialogue; we should be aware of the distance between us and the first hand witness of the story; representation of time and it's power
   • petrarchan sonnet; in an octave and sestet

3. LANGUAGE

   • emjambment; reinforces that we are hearing a story; the breaks are similar to natural speech
   • 'stand in the desert...'- forgotten aspects; we may question the truth
   • extended metaphor throughout; time is more powerful than all living things; time will outlast everything
   • alliteration; 'cold command'- adds expression. harsh sound of 'c' allows the reader to understand the cruelty of ozymandias
   • sarcastic and full of irony
   • paradox; the passion of the sculptor has outlived ozymandias
   • narrative story
   • statue= power and autority
   • 'despair!'- irony- all is lost to nature; hubris + arrogance
   • 'colossal wreck'-politics are overbearing and impersonal

4. QUOTES

   • 'traveller from an antique land'
   • 'trunkless legs of stone'
   • 'cold command'
   • 'lifeless things'
   • 'hand that mock'd them'
   • 'colossal wreck'
   • 'king of kings'
   • 'wrinkled lip'
   • 'shatter'd visage lies'
   • 'lone and level sands'

5. EXTRA INFO

   • mankind is connected to nature
   • nature; source of joy and creativity; has a god-like presence- can also be destructful
   • great art lasts time
   • emotions can be relived through art
   • tyrany is a temporary fate
   • dictators can be bought to their knees
   • nature fixes mans mistakes
   • message to the government; they man endure the same fate as ozymadias (ramses II)
   • existance is driven by power, wealth and pride
   • statue has the same expression as ozymandias's reign
   • the artists mocks ozymandias through his sculpture depiction
   • art outlasts the artist
   • statue is alone and in isolation in the desert
   • speaker may not be honest