POEM REVIEW (Ozymandias)

Ozymandias's Statue

About the Poet:

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was an English Romantic Poet. He wrote some of his finest poems, including 'Ode to the West Wind', 'To a Skylark', 'The Cloud' and 'Ozymandias'. He died in a storm at a sea after visiting 'Lord Byron', another great poet. Shelley's Work shows his remarkable lyrical gift, his originality and his hatred for oppression. He was a great revolutionary poet of his time.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Form: Sonnet

The Poem:

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.”

Source: Shelley’s Poetry and Prose (1977)

Who was Ozymandias?

"Ozymandias" was the name of a Pharaoh in Egypt in the 13th B.C (Pharaoh Ramesses II) He was a powerful king and ordered a sculptor to build his own statue.

Explanation of Stanzas

(No:1)

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert.

Explanation:

                    The poet says that he came across a person who seemed to be from some distant old country and he told the poet that he had seen two huge legs without a body standing in a desert. These legs were made of stone. Beside these legs there lay a damaged face of a man. It was half-buried in the sand. The broken statue was in wretched condition. P.B. Shelley is showing his hatred against the king and his lifestyle.

(No:2)

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;

Explanation: 

                     In these lines Shelley tells that the face of the statue, which was also in a broken condition, was wearing a stern look, There were frown and scowl on his forehead It lips were wrinkled. There was also a contemptuous expression on his face, which showed his indifferent attitude. Thus he appeared to be a very proud ruler, who used to hate others. All these facial expressions indicated that the sculptor of this sculpture had been a great artist and had communicated these strong expressions and emotions by using his art of carving on the face of the statue. In spite of the fact that the artistic piece had broken into pieces, the King had died long ago, but the contemptuous look of the king could still clearly be seen on the face of the statue.

(No:3)

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.”

Explanation:

                     In these lines, the traveller praises the words inscribed on the pedestal of the king's statue. These words conveyed the message that he was Ozymandias, the ruler of rulers and he invited the other rulers to have a look at his great works and get disappointed. In an ironic tone, the poet tells us that around that place, where that broken statue was seen, there was nothing of the great things the king had built. Through this instance, the poet underlines the transitory nature of the world. This short-lived world has nothing that can be everlasting. All objects decline and decay. That enormous monument has decayed and wasted away There is an endless region of sand spread around this artistic statue. If such gigantic pieces of sculpture may perish, other frail structures cannot claim immortality. Man's life is very brief, If his life is so brief and small one should not be proud and haughty.

My Thoughts:

                      The man possesses feelings of superiority in him but it is just mere illusion and self-deception. Man becomes proud of his worldly success and he starts to think that he has captured the world. All he forgot is the cruel behaviour of nature, 'Death'. The man thinks that he will have power forever but that is not true. Death can come at any place at and anytime. Death would take you with him and you couldn't do anything. Shelley explained in a very beautiful way that the king who was so proud of himself during his reign, his statue even couldn't stand with his torso, which was full of pride during his life. Only legs were standing and his statue's head was buried half in the sand.

Things that we can learn from this poem:

1) Death is waiting.

2) Vanity is curse

Rating: 5/5