Ozymandias

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) was a major English Romantic poet known for his radical ideas and lyrical, imaginative verse. His works, like “Ozymandias” and “Prometheus Unbound” often explore themes of individualism, freedom, and the power of nature. Despite facing criticism during his life, Shelley is now regarded as one of the greatest poets in the English language.

The poem was written in 1817 as part of a poetry contest with a friend and it was published in “The Examiner” in 1818. The title of the poem “Ozymandias” refers to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. The poem is about the transience of power and human life in contrast with the ability of art to sustain the test of time. It also has the ability to preserve the past. The poem breaks away from the typical sonnet tradition in both form and rhyme which shows Shelley’s interest in challenging both poetic and political conventions.

Text of the 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.”

Summary of the Poem

The speaker meets a traveller who came from an ancient land. The traveller narrates that he saw two large trunkless legs of a statue in the desert. There was a broken face of the statue lying near the legs. It was half buried in the sand. The facial expressions of the statue, the frown on his forehead and wrinkled lips combine to form a haughty sneer. It shows the expertise of the sculptor who very skilfully recreated those expressions. On the pedestal of the statue, the following words are inscribed: “My name is Ozymandias, the king of kings. You powerful rulers of the world, look at what I have built and achieved, and despair at the thought that you cannot emulate it. Now nothing of the former glory of this king remains. There is vast empty and flat sand surrounding the remains of the large statue in a never-ending and barren desert.