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Analysis and interpretation of Ozymandias
1817 draft by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Bodleian
Library
"Ozymandias" is a sonnet, written
in iambic pentameter, but with an atypical rhyme scheme when compared to other
English-language sonnets.
Themes
The central theme of "Ozymandias"
is contrasting the inevitable decline of all leaders and of the empires they
build with the lasting power of art, the only thing that has any permanence.
"Ozymandias" represents a transliteration
into Greek of a part of Ramesses' throne name, User-maat-re Setep-en-re. The
sonnet paraphrases the inscription on the base of the statue, given by Diodorus
Siculus in his Bibliotheca historica, as "King of Kings am I, Osymandias.
If anyone should like to know my grandeur and reach of stature, let him surpass
any of my achievements."
Shelley's poem is sometimes said[by whom?] to
have been inspired by the arrival in London in 1821 of a colossal statue of
Ramesses II, acquired for the British Museum by the Italian adventurer Giovanni
Belzoni in 1816. However, the poem was written and published before the statue
arrived in Britain. Nonetheless the statue's imminent arrival may have inspired
the poem. The statue's repute in Western Europe preceded its actual arrival in
Britain, and Napoleon had previously made an unsuccessful attempt to acquire it
for France.
Among the earlier senses of the verb "to
mock" is "to fashion an imitation of reality" (as in "a
mock-up"), but by Shelley's day the current sense "to ridicule"
(especially by mimicking) had come to the fore.
History
of Ozymandias
• Written in 1817 during a writing contest
against Horace Smith
• First published in 11/Jan/1818 in Leigh
Hunt’sExaminer
• Thought to be inspired by the arrival of
the statue of “younger Memnon” in Britain
• A ‘classic’ poem which has been studied and
dissected countless times in the subject of English ever since its creation
Personal
interpretation
• Central theme is man’s hubris (excessive
pride)–A Greek term: also used as the noun for the cause of the antagonists
down fall in Greek plays
• Through use of metaphor of rise, peak and
fall of ozy, Shelley condenses all of civilization history
• Shows that all works of human kind,
including social structures, will eventually become history.
Much like 1984, Shelley is alluring to the
fact that the past doesn’t change the future or even the present, and although
ozy’s short sighted pride seems funny, we must realize that all of the lessons
are applicable today.
• Ozy refers to Ramses the Great, pharaoh of Egypt
during the 19th dynasty.
• In line 7, ‘survive’ is a transitive verb
with ‘hand’ and ‘heart’ as its objects, thus meaning that the passions evident
in the sneering, arrogant ‘shattered visage’ have out lived both the sculptor
and the pharaoh
•‘fed’ sounds like ‘the heart the consumed’
as opposed to ‘the heart that gave nourishment’. The pharaohs heart was fed by
his passions.
• The lone level sands suggests the
desolation the results from humans imposing themselves on the land
•‘nothing beside remains’ is both nothing as
the space around the ruins but also puns on the ruins as remains and that
nothing of those are left either
• The ‘Nothing beside’ the ruins emphasizes desolation
and disconnects them not only in space, but in time: from the busy and
important context which they once existed
• Irony on the fact the ozy says ‘look on my works,
ye mighty, and despair’ and there is nothing left of the great kingdom we
assume there once was
•‘Ozy’ comes from the Greek ‘ozium’ which means
‘air’ and ‘mandius’ comes from ‘mandate’ which means ‘to rule’ so Ozymandias is
the ruler of air, or or the ruler of nothing
‘king of kings’ could represent nature itself
because nature never disappears and it shows an immortality not shown by kings or
kingdoms• the first 11 lines are one sentence talking about a harsh, demanding,
egotistical ruler who culminates in his own arrogant words, so is about pride.
• But since the poem ends without ozy himself
it’s not just pride but how pride and human accomplishments are meaningless
against the non-ceasing march of time.
Reference :
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