OZYMANDIAS 2017 Notes

Concept map:

About P.B. Shelley:

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the most significant poets of romantic era of English literature. He is best known for his poems like Ode to the West Wind, Ode to a Skylark, Ozymandias, etc. He is regarded by the finest lyric poet by some critics. His poems are the reflection of contemporary English society. Though his poems are philosophical in nature, they are easily to be understood. He was a key member of a close circle of visionary poets and writers that included Lord Byron, Leigh Hunt and Thomas Love Peacock.

Background information of the poem:

Shelley’s friend, Horace Smith, was on his Christmas vacation at Shelley’s place. At some times, P.B. Shelley’s friend circle which included other romantic poets used to challenge each other to write competing sonnets on a common subject. While Shelly, John Keats and Leigh Hunt wrote competing sonnets on the Nile River around the same time, Shelley and Horace Smith chose a passage from Greek history which described a massive statue in Egypt and the words on its pedestal - "King of Kings Ozymandias am I. If any want to know how great I am and where I lie, let him outdo me in my work."

About the poem ‘Ozymandias’

"Ozymandias" is a sonnet, written in loose iambic pentameter, but with an atypical rhyme scheme when compared to other English-language sonnets, and without the characteristic octave-and-sestet structure. The central theme of "Ozymandias" is contrasting the inevitable decline of all leaders and of the empires they build with their pretensions to greatness. “Ozymandias" represents a transliteration into Greek of a part of Ramesses'  throne name, User-maat-re Setep-en-re. Shelley's poem may have been inspired by the arrival in London in 1821 of a colossal statue of Ramesses II, acquired for the British Museum  The poem was written and published before the statue arrived in Britain, but the reports of the statue's imminent arrival may have inspired the poem.'

Stanza-wise explanation:

The poet says that he met a man from an ancient land (means from a faraway place) who narrated him his experiences. The man says that in the desert he has seen a broken statue. There were two vast legs standing in the desert. The head of the statue lies half-sunk in the sand. On the face, the stern and commanding expressions of the king are visible. One can easily understand the nature of the king from the facial expression carved on the head of the statue. It can be so that the sculptor knows or have studied about the king so much that he could actually make the statue look alive. The sculptor’s hands have actually mocked the exact expressions.

The travel, further, goes on saying that the vast legs were on the pedestal on which these words were written: I am Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my work, Ye mighty but despair’. These words mean to say that the king was very mighty, and he had won many great wars in his reign. One can look around to see his great empire, his work, and be despair that they cannot be like him. But when anyone looks around, they cannot find his empire. What they find around is the endless sand and nothing more.

Exercise:

1.    "The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed." Whose hand and heart has the poet referred to in this line?

Answer: The poet referred to the hands of the sculptor who made the statue of Ozymandias. The poet refers to the heart of Ozymandias.

2.    "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:" Why does Ozymandias refer to himself as King of Kings? What quality of the king is revealed through this statement?

Answer: Ozymandias is the mighty king who has defeated almost all the kings and their empires around him. He is proud of his glory and power. So, he calls himself ‘King of Kings’. From this we come to know that Ozymandias was a powerful but a proud king. He is an arrogant king and contemptuous of others lesser than him.

3.    "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Who is Ozymandias referring to when he speaks of ye Mighty? Why should they despair?

Answer: Ozymandias is referring to the kings of his contemporary era. He is also referring to the ones who are watching this statue.

Other kings of his era should be despair to see his endless empire and his achievements as it wouldn’t be possible for them (as they are not as strong as him) to be like him.

He is referring also to the people watching his statue that they should despair as they couldn’t be like him.

4.    'Nothing beside remains.' What does the narrator mean when he says these words?

Answer: The narrator reads the words written on the pedestal ‘Look at my works, ye mighty and despair’. But when he sees, there is nothing left but the endless sand. The narrator here means to say that nothing remains forever, and nobody can defeat time. The achievements and the empires won have all turned into sand.

5.    What is your impression of Ozymandias as a king?

Answer: Ozymandias was a great powerful king as he had defeated almost every king in his empire. His achievements could be seen throughout the empire. But his boastful nature, his arrogance, and his nature of showing others down make him a weak person.

6.    What message is conveyed through this poem?

Answer: Through this poem, S.T. Coleridge wants to convey the message that time is all powerful. No king or his power can defeat time. All the achievement, in the end, leads to grave as nothing lives in the world forever. So, the pride and the showcase of power are useless. The greatness of a man is known by his good deeds.

7.    List the words which tell you how large the statue was.

Answer: The words which tell us how large the statue was are ‘vast’ and ‘colossal’.

8.    What kind of king do you think Ozymandias was?

Answer: I think that Ozymandias was a proud king. There is no doubt that he was mighty and powerful but he had the habit of show off. I think he had the habit of boasting himself and his achievements. I think he was a king who would always order his servants and subjects to be ready for his order irrespective of any problem they had.

9.    What do you think Ozymandias’s original kingdom was like? What remains of his ‘works’? What do you think is meant by the word ‘works’ here?

Answer: I think Ozymandias’ kingdom was vast with many tall, beautiful building around the city and a big castle in the middle of the city. In his kingdom, people must be like his slaves who would make way for the king when he would arrive in the city.

But at present, nothing is remains except his half broken statue.

The word ‘works’ here refers to the endless, far stretched empire of Ozymandias.

10. Which words or lines in the poem point out the contrast between the words of the king and the scene that now remains?

Answer: The lines which point out the contrast between the words of the king and the scene that now remains is:

‘Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

The Lone level sand stretch far away.’

Figures of speech in Ozymandias:

Alliteration:

-         Cold command

-         Boundless and bare

-         Lone and level sand

-         Remains round

-         Stone stand

Metaphor:

The entire poem is a metaphor for the foolishness of a man who thinks that anyone can harness time.  Ozymandias boasted of his accomplishments, which now are nothing but fodder for the sand and the wind.

Synecdoche: The hand that mocked and the heart that fed

Imagery:

-         Two vast and trunkless1 legs of stone

-         Half sunk, a shattered visage2 lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip

-         Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare