Ozymandias: Quote Analysis

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  • Ozymandias: Quote Analysis
    • "colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away."
      • metaphor: "colossal wreck"
        • The phrase is not only a reference to the forgotten statue, it is also a metaphor for Ozymandias' ego.
      • alliteration: "boundless and bare"
        • Used to emphasise how forgotten the statue is.
      • alliteration: "lone and level"
        • Used to emphasise how not even a great King can outlast the sands of time.
      • sibilance: "sands stretch"
        • Sands are iconic of time which suggests that the writer was trying to suggest that that nothing can outlast time.
          • Used to emphasise how not even a great King can outlast the sands of time.
    • "vast and trunkless legs of stone ... a shattered visage lies"
      • "vast and trunkless"
        • The statue is barely standing - suggests that it is being eaten by the desert and time.
      • "shattered visage"
        • Suggests that the statue is no longer recognisable, which suggests it no longer has a purpose.
    • "cold command ... 'Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'"
      • alliteration: "cold command"
        • Suggests Ozymandias was powerful and arrogant which is ironic because nothing is left.
      • tone: exclamatory sentence
        • The tone is strong and authorative - ironic because nobody is listening.
    • Themes and Context
      • One of the main themes of the poem is irony. The writer suggests throughout how not even the memory of a powerful ruler can outlast time.
      • Inspired by the recent unearthing of Ramesses II (an Egyptian Pharaoh).
        • Egyptian Pharaohs saw themselves as Gods in mortal form.
          • The reference to the stone statue in the poem is likely to be a direct reference to the recently unearthed statue.
        • The reference to the stone statue in the poem is likely to be a direct reference to the recently unearthed statue.

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