Introduction :-
"Ozymandias" is a sonnet written by the English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's collection Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, and in a posthumous compilation of his poems published in 1826.
Shelley wrote the poem in friendly competition with his friend and fellow poet Horace Smith (1779–1849), who also wrote a sonnet on the same topic with the same title. The poem explores the worldly fate of history and the ravages of time: even the greatest men and the empires they forge are impermanent, their legacies fated to decay into oblivion.
About the Poet :-
Percy Bysshe Shelley ( 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets.[3][4] A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death and he became an important influence on subsequent generations of poets including Robert Browning, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Thomas Hardy, and W. B. Yeats.[5] American literary critic Harold Bloom describes him as "a superb craftsman, a lyric poet without rival, and surely one of the most advanced sceptical intellectuals ever to write a poem."
Tragically, Shelley died young, at the age of 29, when the boat he was sailing got caught in a storm. His body washed to shore sometime later.
A 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.”
BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
Analysis of the Poem :-
Summary of the Poem :-
In this poem, the speaker describes meeting a traveler “from an antique land.” The title, ‘Ozymandias,’ notifies the reader that this land is most probably Egypt since Ozymandias was what the Greeks called Ramses II. He was a great and terrible pharaoh in ancient Egypt.
The traveler tells a story to the speaker. In the story, he describes visiting Egypt. There, he saw a large and intimidating statue of Ramses in the desert. He can tell that the sculptor must have known his subject well because it is obvious from the statue’s face that this man was a great leader, but one who could also be very vicious.
He describes his sneer as having a “cold command.” Even though the leader was probably very great, it seems that the only thing that survives from his realm is this statue, which is half-buried and somewhat falling apart.
Structure and Form
Form :- Sonnet
Rhyme Scheme :- ABABACDC EDEFEF
Meter :- Iambic Pentameter
‘Ozymandias’ is considered to be a Petrarchan sonnet, even though the rhyme scheme varies slightly from the traditional sonnet form. Structurally all sonnets contain fourteen lines and are written in iambic pentameter.
The rhyme scheme of ‘Ozymandias’ is ABABACDC EDEFEF. This rhyme scheme differs from the rhyme scheme of a traditional Petrarchan sonnet, whose octave (the first eight lines of the poem) usually has a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA. Its sestet (the final six lines of the sonnet) does not have an assigned rhyme scheme, but it usually rhymes in every other line or contains three different rhymes.
Shelley’s defiance of this rhyme scheme helps to set apart ‘Ozymandias’ from other Petrarchan sonnets, and it is perhaps why this poem is so memorable. The reason he did this may have been to represent the corruption of authority or lawmakers.
Literary Devices :-
Shelley plays with a number of figurative devices in order to make the sonnet more appealing to readers. These devices include:
Enjambment :- Shelley uses this device throughout the text. For example, it occurs in lines 2-8. By enjambing the lines, the poet creates a surprising flow.
Alliteration :- It occurs in “an antique,” “stone/ Stand,” “sunk a shattered,” “cold command,” etc.
Metaphor :- The “sneer of cold command” contains a metaphor. Here, the ruler’s contempt for his subjugates is compared to the ruthlessness of a military commander.
Irony :- Shelley uses this device in the following lines, “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!/ Nothing beside remains.” The following lines also contain this device.
Synecdoche :- In the poem, the “hand” and “heart” collectively hint at the pharaoh, Ozymandias, as a whole. It is a use of synecdoche.
Allusion :- The line “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings” is an allusion to the actual inscription described in the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus’s Bibliotheca historica.
Themes of the Poem :-
Shelley makes use of a number of themes in this sonnet. The most important theme is the impermanence of a ruler’s glory and his legacy. It is an implicit hint at the idea of futility. No matter how hard a man tries to rivet his name, at some point, people will forget him. For example, Ozymandias tried to become greater than God. He declared himself the “King of Kings.” If we look at history, every ambitious ruler declared them, more or less, by the same title. In their pursuit of greatness, they forgot about their very nature: every living thing must die. Besides, the sonnet also utilizes the themes of vainglory, the power of art, the decline of power, etc.
Conclusion :-
The passage of time destroys even the most powerful or mightiest person or thing in the world. Thus, we should not be boastful, egoistic or live with pride. Instead, we should live a life of simplicity.
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