Ozymandias

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  • Created by: Noah_S
  • Created on: 01-04-19 20:39
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  • Ozymandias
    • Percy Bysshe Shelley  (1792–1822)
      • 1818
    • Structure & Form
      • Sonnet (14 lines) although it doesn't have the same rhyme scheme and punctuation that most sonnets have
      • Written in iambic pentameter
      • The 1st line and a half are the narrators work, whilst for the rest of the play it is from the traveller he meets
      • No clear stanzas - instead it is one block of text that is split up by punctuation
    • Context
      • Shelly was a Romantic Poet which is shown in the structure of the poem
      • He was thought to be a radical for his time, critisiing the current King of England (Kind George III)
      • The poem tells of the remains of a statue of Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II  which Shelley links to the current monarch of the time.
    • Beginning
      • 'Two vast and trunkless legs of stone'
        • The legs of the statue are described as vast, highlighting how much the Pharaoh thought of himself by making a large statue of himself in the first place
      • 'a shatter'd visage lies'
        • The adjective 'shatter'd' shows an image of a face being in pieces rather than one whole thing it is much weaker and fragile like this.
        • Shows how power has decade  as slowly the visage erodes - just like his power
    • Middle
      • 'king of kings:'
        • The repetition of 'kings' foregrounds the rulers arrogance.  It is metaphorical as he felt that he was in charge of all others.
        • It is ironic, as his identity is described as shattered earlier on
      • 'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
        • Imperative sentence used in the inscription of the statue.  Exposes the rulers arrogance and pride.
        • Even after death, he is trying to keep his power and dictate what other people do which shows how power is a temporary concept as hardly anyone remembers him.
    • End
      • 'Nothing beside remains.'
        • Links to the lack of power that is left showing how over time power erodes
      • 'Round the decay/Of that colossal wreck'
        • Decay suggest that decrease of power has happened over time creating the idea that time cannot be overruled.
        • Colossal highlight exactly how powerful the leader once was and the noun 'wreck' implies that the power is now non-existent.

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