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Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822 / Horsham / England)
Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley : 186 / 325
Ozymandias
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.'
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Submitted: Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Read poems about / on: despair, heart, passion, work
Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley : 186 / 325
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This is a very great poem. I think it portrays how unavailing man's love for acquisition of power is; the mortality of man, including tyrants; and the temporality of every single thing and state in life. The poem is just beautiful.
ah... the bittersweet futility of life portrayed beautifully...! !
it is a mockery to a boastful king who over used his power to dominate people without considering their rights as a human..thats the main purpose of the poem...
such a great poem...the poem offers an ironic commentary on the fleeing nature of power. shelley did a great job on using implications effectively.it is a highly recommended poem of irony! : D
The last four lines are Shelley's acid spit on vain glory It is a great poem and my
very very favorite poem.
-KAVIN CHARALAN
A magnificent sonnet, combining the starkness of the desert with the folly of human ambition.
my friends i need help......how can i get the critical analysis of the poem? ? ? ?
this poem implies that even how mighty and powerful the king is (or any ruler, or anybody) , he will still fall..........there are no permanent things in the world.....everything shall be ruined......
but despite that fact, we cant deny that his might and power shall be remembered, in any ways.....like the statues, textbooks, even in the minds.........
.......this poem is one among the many i liked...it was on our textbook when i was a junior.....
This has always been one of my personal favorite poems. I love Shelley's beautiful yet haunting style.
The speaker meets a tourist who tells him about legs of stone that stand trunkless in desert sands. Flash to the pyramids and the sphinx and the other crumbling reminders of lost civilizations in places like ancient Egypt and Greece and Rome, where empires once existed ruled by all-powerful tyrants like Rameses and the Caesars. Even the ruins left by Hitler's Third Reich in the 20th century bear mute testimony to 'the heart that fed' these monstrous passions. Keep in mind the anthem of Hitler's Germany - 'Today Germany, tomorrow the world! ' Whether or not the subjects of these realms, ancient or modern, have any say in the matter is irrelevant in the long run. Praise be that the deeds of their masters live on in the printed word as words of caution for us who have survived the most recent holocaust. It can't happen today! some of us cry. We're all in the know!