Ozymandias Essay, Research Paper

"Ozymandias" to express to us that possessions do not mean

immortality. He used very strong imagery and irony to get his point across

throughout the poem. In drawing these vivid and ironic pictures in our minds,

Shelley was trying to explain that no one lives forever, and nor do their

possessions. Shelley expresses this poem?s moral through a vivid and ironic

picture. A shattered stone statue with only the legs and head remaining,

standing in the desert, the face is proud and arrogant, "Half sunk, a

shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read"(lines, 4-6). On the

pedestal of the statue, there are these words, ?"My name is Ozymandias,

king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!?"(Lines, 10-11).

However, all that surrounds the statue is a desert. This poem is written to

express to us that possessions don?t mean immortality, the king who seemed to

think that his kingdom would remain under his statue?s haughty gaze forever,

ironically teaches us this through his epitaph. "Look on my works, ye

Mighty, and despair!"(Line, 11) becomes good advice, though in an opposite

meaning than the king intended, for it comes to mean that despite all the power

and might one acquires in the course of their life, material possessions will

not last forever. In the end, the King?s "works" are nothing, and

the lines inscribed upon his statue are a sermon to those who read it. This is a

poem about art. Shelley used imagery and a very impressive ironical way to write

this poem. Basically, the poem is divided into two parts; the first eight lines

are describing an ancient decayed sculpture seen by a traveler. The last six

lines however talk about the words on the pedestal and the desolate

surroundings; he contrasts the great sculpture with the surrounding emptiness,

which gave a stronger feeling about the poem. In Shelley?s work, it described

the visage "sneer of cold command"(Line, 5). From this you can imagine

a very conceited, arrogant pharaoh, commanding his people building this great

vast statue hoping his power would be immortality. And when this great piece of

work is done, he demanded to put such words on the pedestal: ?"My name is

Ozymandias, king of kings. Look at my works, ye Mighty and

despair!"?(Lines, 10-11). Ozymandias seemed to think that as long as his

sculpture was there, his kingdom would last forever. But according to this poem,

after hundreds and thousands of years, the only thing left is sand and the

rotting and decaying sculpture. Shelley wrote, " Nothing beside

remains"(line, 12) after the words " Look at my works,"(line,

11). This is really sarcastic because the prior sentence was just talking about

how great and fabulous this sculpture was and how the king thought about

possessing his kingdom forever this way. Then, the next sentence comes with-

"Nothing beside remains"(line, 12). Shelley is trying to tell us

something through this vivid and ironic picture described in the poem, which is

no one lives forever, and nor do their possessions. In the poem, this pharaoh

thought that even if he past away, his kingdom, power and possessions would

still remain the same, and forever this way. But in reality, it?s impossible.

Like the poem said, the king?s work became nothing, only shattered statue with

legs and head left, lying in the desert. Shelley put a clear image in all our

minds when he talked about the power and desires of this mighty king. All

Ozymandias wanted was immortality, which everyone in this world, even today,

would die for. Who knows, maybe that was the key to the king?s impractical

dream.