Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley explores power, control and time through the imagery of a crumbling statue. A traveller discovers the crumbling remains of a once-powerful king’s statue, highlighting the fleeting nature of power compared to the enduring force of time.
This study guide is written for students and teachers of English Literature, particularly those studying AQA’s GCSE English Literature Power and Conflict Anthology. For more study guides from this anthology, check out the Power and Conflict page, or the list of poems in the series at the bottom of this guide.
Ozymandias
What is 'Ozymandias' all about?
Summary of the sonnet
‘Ozymandias’ starts with the speaker meeting another traveller, who tells them about a huge statue they came across. The setting of this conversation is not stated, but the traveller is from a foreign land, suggesting that the conversation happens somewhere on their travels abroad.
The traveller describes the condition of the statue to the speaker: two giant legs stand alone in a desert. Next to them, half-buried in sand, lies a broken giant face. Even though the face is cracked, you can still see it was once frowning and mean-looking Pharaoh. He explains that the sculptor who made the statue did a good job capturing the king’s personality.
On the big stone base of the statue, there’s an inscription that says “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings! Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Ironically, that’s all that’s left. There’s nothing else but a giant, empty desert around the broken statue.
Context
Percy Bysshe Shelley's life, education and career
Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on August 4, 1792, in Field Place, West Sussex, England.
He was the eldest son of a wealthy baronet, Sir Timothy Shelley, and received a privileged education at Eton College and University College, Oxford. However, his independent spirit and questioning mind often clashed with authority. He was expelled from Oxford in 1811 for publishing a pamphlet advocating atheism.
Despite his expulsion, Shelley continued to write, publishing Gothic novels and poetry heavily influenced by Romanticism. In 1811, he eloped with 16-year-old Harriet Westbrook, defying her family and his own. Their marriage faced strain, particularly after Shelley became enamoured with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, daughter of the famous feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and political philosopher William Godwin.
In 1814, Shelley and Mary, along with her stepsister Claire Clairmont, eloped to Europe. Their unconventional relationship and radical beliefs caused them to be cut off from others, amidst difficult circumstances including the stillbirth of their baby. They married in 1816, after Harriet, Shelley’s first wife, committed suicide.
In 1818, Mary published her masterpiece, Frankenstein, possibly inspired by their discussions on the nature of life and creation. Shelley continued to write prolifically, producing works like ‘Queen Mab’ and ‘Alastor’.
Shelley and his wife cultivated close friendships with fellow Romantic poets like Lord Byron and John Keats. He shared their admiration for nature, championed individual liberty, and criticised social injustice. His political activism often landed him in financial difficulties and legal trouble. You can read more about Shelley’s life here.
In 1822, while living in Italy, Shelley died in a boating accident. He was only 29 years old.
Context of 'Ozymandias'
Ramesses II
The poem doesn’t directly refer to a real historical figure, but ‘Ozymandias’ is the Greek name for Ramesses II, a powerful Egyptian pharaoh who lived from 1303 BC to 1213 BC, and ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1213 BC.
Discovery of the statue of Ramesses II
In 1817, the British Museum acquired a large fragment of a statue of Ramesses II, known as the Younger Memnon. This sparked public interest in ancient Egypt and may have directly inspired Shelley’s poem. You can read more about the discovery of the statue of Ramesses II here.
Romantic Poetry
Romanticism was a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that emerged in Europe in the late 18th century and continued into the early 19th century. It was a reaction to the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason, logic, and order. Romantic poets and artists sought to celebrate nature, emotion, imagination, and the individual spirit.
Some of the most famous Romantic poets include:
- William Blake
- William Wordsworth
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Lord Byron
- John Keats
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
Line-by-line analysis
I met a traveller from an antique land,
- First-person narration: the speaker uses the first-person pronoun ‘I’ but then almost immediately moves into a direct quotation of what the traveller says. The effect is a distancing of the reader from the image described (the statue). There are several layers of storytelling here, removing us from the action.
- Setting: this line establishes the speaker’s encounter with a traveller who has visited a distant and ancient land. Romantic poets were fascinated with the past and the exotic. The setting of this meeting with the traveller is unclear and vague: it could be England, or further afield.
- The adjective ‘antique’ suggests an ancient place. Combined with the poem’s title, the Greek form of Ramesses II, the traveller could be from Ancient Greece, perhaps even Diodorus Siculus, the ancient Greek historian who wrote of the discovery of the statue of Ramesses II. Siculus suggested that Ozymandias could even be the Pharaoh of Exodus in the Bible. You can read more in James B. Young’s article, Ozymandias.
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
- The speech marks open in this line and do not close until the very end. The move from the first-person account to reported speech is punctuated with a hyphen which creates a pause and fracturing in the line.
- ‘Trunkless’ means that the trunk (body) of the statue is missing. Now, only two huge legs stand in the sand, representing the broken and crumbled base of what was once a great monument. This fracturing of the statue is mimicked in the fracturing of the line by the hyphen.
- Sibilance is used in the ‘s’ sounds of ‘Who said – “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone…”‘ creating amplification of the sound and adding grandeur to the image.
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
- Sibilance continues in the ‘s’ sounds of ‘stand’, ‘desert’ and ‘sand’, creating the effect of the rushing wind and sand of the desert.
- Ellipsis in this line creates a substantial pause. This caesura fractures the line, mirroring the fracturing of the statue, with the head completely separate from the legs, and body nowhere to be found.
- The reference to sand sets the scene for the traveller’s recount: the desert sand of the statue of Ozymandias sets the location in a barren and deserted part of Egypt.
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
- The imagery of the “shattered visage” with its frown suggests a sense of former grandeur now reduced to ruin. This imagery is again highlighted with a strong sibilant sound in ‘sunk a shattered visage lies‘.
- ‘Lies’ is always an interesting word in literature. On the surface level, the head lies in the sand as it is on the ground. However, there is also the suggestion that the face lies: the frown and sneer suggest power and authority, but the fact that this is from the sand of the desert floor makes those facial expressions a falsehood.
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
- The traveller’s description of the facial features carved onto the statue makes use of the adjectives ‘wrinkled’ and ‘cold’ to convey the aura of authority synonymous with Ozymandias’ (Ramesses II’s) reign.
- Alliteration on the ‘c’ sound of ‘cold command’ emphasises the harshness of power and leadership.
- The sentence structure here extends the description through the repeated use of ‘and’, emphasising the authoritative and commanding features being listed.
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
- Here, Shelley pays respect to the power of the artist in creating accurate and insightful emotions in the face of the sculpture. In many ways, the artist’s skill is what has endured through time and the harsh conditions of the desert, not the powerful leader it depicts. Ozymandias’ power crumbled long ago, but this sculptor’s skill lives on, albeit in a broken form.
- The power of art and the imagination are valued highly by the Romantic poets, so this nod by Shelley supports his overall message.
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
- The skill of the sculptor is again praised for being able to create something from nothing.
- The caesura created by the comma in the middle of the line allows the reader a moment to keep up and adds to the slightly conversational tone of the traveller recounting this description to the speaker.
- ‘Which yet survive’ adds to Shelley’s praise of the artist; the true lasting power is not in Ozymandias the ruler, but in the sculptor who created the statue.
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
- Synecdoche is used in this line, with ‘them’ referring to the features of the face of the sculpture as if they were the whole of Ozymandias. ‘Mocked’ means mimicked or recreated, as in the hand of the sculptor recreated those facial features, and the ‘heart that fed’ refers to the heart of the real man Ozymandias which fed these cold and cruel facial features.
- The line is beautifully balanced across the comma, creating a short pause to emphasise the parallel phrase structures.
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
- The image of the statue is vividly depicted by the traveller, with the pedestal and inscription as a final element to help build the picture.
- The colon at the end of the line provides a long pause in this very long sentence, leading the reader into the inscription on the base of the statue.
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
- This line forms the very heart of the poem as a nested quotation. The first-person he inscription speaks through the voice of the traveller and then through the voice of the speaker. This line ironically echoes and reverberates through history, with an emptiness which leaves the reader feeling cold towards such excessive pride of this past ruler.
- The inscription speaks with authority, confidence and totalitarian power. It is ironic, then, that the words are the only remaining part of the statue that remains intact.
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
- Ozymandias exerts his power through the imperative (command) verbs ‘look’ and ‘despair’, emphasised with the exclamation mark to draw further attention to the egotistical nature of the pharaoh.
- The voice of Ozymandias in the inscription is at odds with the present reality: there is nothing for us to look at. His empire has long since succumbed to the destructive power of the wind, sand and of time.
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
- After the very long sentence from the traveller which describes the statue, this next is an extremely short sentence: ‘Nothing beside remains.’ The brevity and factual tone speak of the irony of such words of strength living on long after the rest has crumbled.
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
- Alliteration emphasises the plosive sound of ‘boundless and bare’.
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
- Alliteration is used to emphasise the emptiness of the surrounding landscape: ‘lone and level’ landscape contrasts with the statue’s previous size which would have dominated in its heyday.
Analysis of form and structure
Verse structure
‘Ozymandias’ is a sonnet. This means it is a 14-line, single-verse poem which uses iambic pentameter (see rhythm section below). Sonnets also follow a set rhyme scheme: either Shakespearean or Petrarchan (see the infographic below to explore the traditional rhyme schemes of sonnets). Shelley deviates from some of these more traditional features, as will be shown below. But he sticks to two main elements of a sonnet: the verse length and the rhythm of each line.
The carefully crafted sonnet is a piece of art, with each syllable and sound chosen for a specific purpose, just like the statue. Shelley uses his art to reflect on the art of the statue. But like the statue, the sonnet deviates from the traditional structure, with unexpected rhymes and patterns; like the statue, it is fractured.
Rhyme
The rhyme scheme of Ozymandias is: ABABACDCEDEFEF
In two cases, the rhymes are slant rhymes rather than full rhymes. We see this in ‘stone’/’frown’ and in ‘appear’/’despair’/’bare’. These slant rhymes leave the sound unfinished and leave the reader unsatisfied by the lack of completion, perhaps reflecting the incompleteness of the statue of Ozymandias.
If you would like to read more sonnets, take a look at the following, all of which bring something extra to the form and enrich your understanding of sonnets.
Rhythm
The rhythm of the poem is almost always iambic pentameter. This means that there are five stressed syllables in each line and five unstressed syllables. They follow the pattern: unstressed then stressed within each pair of syllables. Let’s take a look at the first two lines. In these lines, the stressed syllable is shown in bold, underlined font and there is a backslash in between each pair of syllables:
Themes in 'Ozymandias'
Power
The poem explores how even the most powerful rulers and their empires eventually succumb to the passage of time. Ozymandias, once a mighty king, is now reduced to a shattered statue in the desert. This emphasises the fleeting nature of human achievements and human power. The infographic below shows some of the various ways in which the poem explores the theme of power, which is useful for students of the AQA Power and Conflict Anthology when preparing for examination essays.
Hubris (Pride)
Ozymandias’s inscription on the pedestal, boasting of his greatness and commanding others to admire his works, highlights his arrogance and excessive pride. This theme underscores the downfall of those who are consumed by their greatness and overestimate their importance. Greek tragedies centre on this same idea of hubris as a downfall of many great men. Ozymandias was great in his day, the ‘King of Kings’ as he calls himself. But as we know, pride comes before a fall.
The Power of Art
The poem also explores the enduring power of art to capture and convey human emotions and experiences. Despite the physical decay of Ozymandias’s statue, the emotions carved into its features still resonate with viewers. This highlights the lasting impact of artistic expression and the skill of the sculptor. Shelley echoes the power of the artist’s skill of the statue in the artistic skill he shows in crafting the sonnet.
'Ozymandias' Quiz
Quiz on Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’
Test your knowledge of the poem 'Ozymandias' by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Comprehension Questions:
- How does the inscription on the pedestal (“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”) reveal the king’s attitude towards his own power?
- What is the significance of the fact that the statue of Ozymandias is now in ruins? How does this contrast with the message of the inscription?
- How does the desert setting contribute to the overall meaning of the poem?
- What kind of poem is “Ozymandias”? How does the form contribute to the poem’s message?
- How does the poem use language to convey the passage of time and its effect on even the most powerful empires?
- Who is telling the story of Ozymandias? How does this perspective shape the way we understand the poem’s message?
- What does the poem suggest about the limitations of human achievements and the difficulty of preserving our legacies?
- Find two lines in the poem that create a strong contrast. Explain how this contrast helps to develop the poem’s central theme.
- While the poem doesn’t use a lot of overtly emotional language, how do you think the traveller feels about the fate of Ozymandias and his empire? Explain your answer using evidence from the poem.
- Choose one poem from the AQA Power and Conflict anthology, that also deals with the concept of power. How does the portrayal of power in “Ozymandias” differ from the poem you’ve chosen?
Other poems from the AQA Power and Conflict Anthology to pair with 'Poem Name'
London by William Blake
Both poems explore the theme of oppression. In ‘London’, Blake explores the impact of oppressive power on the people, while in ‘Ozymandias’, Blake takes a more removed perspective by describing the impact of time on powerful figures. In both poems, the settings are bleak places: London’s streets and ‘chartered’ and controlled, while Ozymandias’ surroundings are only barren desert sand. The poems have very different structures, giving students plenty to compare.
Both ‘My Last Duchess‘ and Ozymandias depict powerful men who exert power and control through their words. A close study of ‘My Last Duchess‘ reveals the rhetorical flourishes and authoritative voice of the Duke, while Ozymandias’ powerful words are inscribed for future generations. The poems have very different forms and structures, but there are plenty of points of comparison and contrast which are relevant and useful for essay planning.
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Both poems show that leadership is not enduring nor infallible. In ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, the commands are flawed, based on bad information, leading to the death of the brigade. In ‘Ozymandias’, power is powerless in the face of time, leading to eventual defeat. Both poems depict the powerlessness of individuals in the face of larger forces. ‘Ozymandias’ shows the king’s ultimate defeat by time, while ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ portrays the soldiers following orders despite the personal danger.
