Ozymandias

//Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone" lines 1-2// || The overall theme of the poem is that nothing is forever. Ozymandias, king of kings, nothing remains of the once ruler of Egypt but half a statue in the middle of a desert. This can be applied to the pride that human beings feel about their accomplishments. As proud as a person is, no matter how many people praise them, it will all eventually be forgotten and turn into dust. I like to interpret this as a message to not take pride in materiel things and focus more on #|life itself and the experience you can have while still alive || //Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,// //Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies" lines 2-4//
 * Theme || //I met a traveler from an antique land//
 * Imagery || //"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone//

//"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings :// //Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" lines 10-11// || The use of visual imagery is crucial in this poem. It must be described to the reader how desolate that surrounding land is because the irony of the statue boasting about how magnificent the kingdom is makes the poem have deeper meaning.

The use of auditory imagery reinforces the same message as the visual imagery. A plaque by the statue of the fallen king demands that everyone gawk at what he has created; however again, the irony is present as there is nothing near the statue that resembles any settlement ever being there ||
 * Meter || Allusion

Alliteration //"Lone and Level" "Sands stretch" (line 14)// || The poem alludes to king Ozymandias, which was the Greek name for king Ramesses II of Egypt, who ruled from 1279 BC to 1213 BC. the pharaoh is most credited with constructing the statues of Abu Simbel.

Alliteration is used in the conclusion of the poem when Shelly is once again reiterating the barren scene that surrounds the collapsed statue. The similar sounds that come off of these words cause the poem to end rather smoothly || //Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare lines 12-13//
 * #|Emotion || //Nothing beside remains. Round the decay//

//Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! line 11// || The tone and mood of this poem both shift between being slightly remorseful and blatantly apathetic. The reader listens to the traveler's #|story, and probably understands the message, but he/she never feels pity nor animosity towards Ozymandias the overall story is somewhat somber, but the statue of the once king has a permanent "sneer" sculpted into it which makes the king a difficult person to admire when nothing else is known about him.

The diction is the poem uses a moderately difficult vocabulary with an easy to follow speech pattern. If the rhyming pattern was alternated a little the poem could be considered an Italian sonnet. The time period that the poem is set in is never clearly stated, but from what is known of Ozymandias and the fact that Shelly chose the word "ye" as opposed to "you", we can assume that this interaction happened hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago || =**Percy Bysshe Shelley**=

== Shelley was an English romantic poet that lived from 1792-1822, dying at the young age of 29 when his ship sank in open waters. Shelley was not recognized for his poetry while he was alive, only after his death did his works rise to prominence. Shelley's second wife, Mary, proved herself to be quite capable of writing stories as well, she finished that story of Dr. Frankenstein in 1818.

=Ozymandias= ====I met a traveler 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".====