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Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller 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,
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;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
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.”
Written in competition with a friend, the poem “Ozymandias” was inspired by Ramses II, better known as Ramses the Great when the British Museum announced a large fragment of his statue. The poem explores the fate of history and the ravages of time, as even the greatest men and the empires forged by them are temporal, their legacies are fated to decay into oblivion.
The name Ozymandias was the Greek name of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. Shelley used the Greek name ‘Ozy’ is derived from the Greek word ‘ozium’ which means air and ‘mandius’ comes from ‘mandate’ which means to rule. The choice of this name implies that Ozymandias was the ruler of air or the ruler of nothing.”
The narrator begins the poem by relating what someone had described to him about pieces of a broken statue scattered in a desert. The dilapidated state of the statue signifies the ultimate powerlessness of man. Instead of preserving his legacy, time and the elements have reduced the great statue to a pile of rubble. In this poem, Shelley provides insight into his views on politics and the poem indicates that political power and influence are fleeting, no matter the attempts of the person in power to preserve his own greatness.
The poet then continues to tell a story about a once-powerful king whose kingdom no longer exists. This is made evident in the first 11 lines as it is expressed in a sentence, depicting the harsh, demanding, and egotistical ruler who seeks control through his commands and hubris. However, there are some contrasts to this claim as imagery is made use of by Shelley in line 2 where the legs being “vast and trunkless” does not inspire confidence in the power the man once held. The decimated statue located in a barren desert, instead, shows that nature has triumphed over man and has supplanted its superiority over the man.
Shelley continues to use the phrase “shattered and visage” to imply the complete destruction of the statue’s facial features. The line “wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command” alludes to the pride and arrogance Ozymandias possessed. This is further contrasted with the description of passion in line 6. Yet another contrast, layered with irony are the words “survive” and “lifeless” whereby the memory of Ozymandias only survives due to being etched onto the lifeless rock.
The poem then proceeds to show us the words on the statue’s pedestal. The inscription on it is ironic as Ozymandias wrote it to inspire fear in those who read it because of all his “mighty works”. However, time ended up altering the meaning of the inscription instead. All who profess to wield great power will one day succumb to time itself, as proven by Ozymandias’ statue and his “great works” that have crumbled into dust.
The poem further continues to emphasize the desolation and disconnect Ozymandias is from his creations by using the line “Round the decay/Of that colossal Wreck”, where his statue is well and truly separated from his legacy. The “lone and level sands” signifies desolation, as nothing exists around it and all that remains are scoured clear by the sands of time.
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