The narrator meets a traveller who tells him about a statue standing in the middle of the desert
It is a statue of a king who ruled over past civilisation. His face is proud and he arrogantly boasts about
how powerful he is in an inscription on the statues base
The statue however has fallen down and crumbled away so only the ruins remain
Context
Shelley was well known as a radical during his lifetime and some people think Ozymandias reflects this
side of the character
Some people say it can be read as a criticism of people or systems that become huge and believe
themselves to be invincible
Structure
o The narrator builds up an image of the statue by focusing different parts of it in turn
o The poem ends by describing the enormous desert which helps sum up the insignificance of the statue
o The first line and a half up to the colon are the narrators words, the rest are those of the traveller he
meets
o There are no clear stanzas but it is a block split up with punctuation
Form
o A sonnet with a turning point at line 9 like a Petrarchan sonnet
o Doesn’t follow a regular sonnet rhyme scheme which reflects the way that human power and
structures can be destroyed
o Uses iambic pentameter which is often disrupted
o The story is a second-hand account which distances the reader further from the dead king
Language
o The poem focuses on power especially human power however the statue has been lost and is only
visible due to the power of art
o Ultimately nature has ruined the statue showing that nature and time have more power than anything
else
o The tyranny of the ruler is suggested through aggressive language
o Irony – there is nothing left to show for the rulers arrogant boasting or his great civilisation. The ruined
statue can be seen as a symbol of temporary nature of political power or human achievement
Themes
Pride
Arrogance
Power
London – William Blake
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