Topic-Poem ‘Ozymandias’

Who is this statue of?

Ramses II, Pharaoh, Ozymandias

What happened to the statue?

Do we know something about this Egyptian king?

Why did Pharaoh need slaves ?

Ramses was known for building a lot

Known for the many “works” he created of himself

And there are many more…

And what about Pytom and Ramses? Who Built those?

What kind of a leader was Ramses the Great?

Distinguishing different perspectives:In ancient times, he was probably considered • neither better nor worse than

any other Egyptian king. • did what Egyptian pharaohs

were suppose to do.

Conclusion• We can’t really judge him by our norms. • We must judge him by norms and ideas of his

culture, not ours!

Ozymandias/Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

• A British Romantic poet.• Like other romantic poets, he

wrote about the return to nature, freedom, democracy and human rights.

• Many of the poems often use ancient stories as sources of inspiration.

• Ozymandias is his most famous poem.

The Poem: Ozymandias• The name: a combination of two Greek

words: ozium= breath, air; mandate= to rule• A sonnet- little song (Italian)

Sonnets usually contain 14 lines.the octave- the first 8 lines: the question/the problemthe sestet- answers the question/ resolves the problem

Reading the poemThe Octave- the problem I met a traveller from an antique landWho said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold commandTell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.

Let’s see again what the traveller saw

And the other part

Reading the poem- continuation

The Sestet- the resolutionAnd 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 decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away".

Broken face of Ozymandias’ statue lying in sand.

Poem at a GlanceThe poet meets a traveller from an ancient land.

The traveller tells the poet that he has seen two huge trunkless legs of stone standing in the desert.

Near those legs lay a shattered and half buried face in the sand.

The face of the statue showed signs of contempt and cold command on it.

The sculptor had read those passions of the living man quite well and stamped them exactly on the lifeless stones.

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”(was written on the pedestal).

Only boundless and bare sand is spreading all around the broken statue and the shattered face of Ozymandias.

Revision of the poem:1.What is a sonnet? How does P.B. Shelley

develop the main thought in the sonnet?

2.Describe the passions that were stamped on the lifeless stone of the broken statue of Ozymandias.

3.What is the message that the poet wants to convey through the poem?

4.Describe the poetic devices used by Shelley in ‘Ozymandias.’

5.What was written on the pedestal?

Have a look over the answers:1.A sonnet is a poem of 14 lines with a

structured rhyme scheme. The single idea runs throughout the poem. P.B. Shelley develops the idea that all power, pelf, glory and grandeur are short lived through his sonnet very beautifully. The ravages of time spare none. Even the mightiest kings and their belongings also get destroyed with passage of time.

2.The huge statue of Ozymandias lie shattered and sunk in the sand of the desert. But the art of the sculptor still survives on the lifeless stones. On his face there are expressions of scorn and hostility. The expression of cold authority is clearly visible on his face. His lip wrinkled and raised in contempt. It looked as if the man whose statue it was made was drunk with power, pelf, and authority.

3.Shelley wants to convey a definite message to humanity through his famous sonnet ‘Ozymandias’ that all power, pelf, glory and grandeur are only a nine-day wonder. The ravages of time spare none, not even the likes of Ozymandias. The ‘king of kings’ who wanted to overawe lesser mortals with his power, authority and great achievements, now lies shattered and buried in the sand. Nothing remains of his power, only boundless and bare sand is seen all around his broken and shattered statue

4‘.Ozymandias’ is a very famous sonnet of P.B. Shelley. In the octave, he develops the idea and in the sestet, he reaches the conclusion that the ravages of time spare none. The use of alliteration heightens the poetic effect. ‘Cold Command’, ‘king of kings’, ‘boundless and bare’ etc. are some of the examples of alliteration. The use of ‘Synecdoche’, substitution of a part to stand for the whole is effectively used in ‘the hand that mock’d them’ and ‘the heart that fed’. The use of metaphors like ‘cold command’ also enrich the poetic effect.

5.On the pedestal was written a brief description of the man whose statue it was. It was the statue of Ozymandias. He claimed himself to be ‘the king of kings’. He was the drunk with power, pelf and authority. He challenged the mighty and powerful people of the world and even the Almighty to look upon his great achievements. They would be lost in despair. They would feel too small and insignificant in his comparison.