Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792 – 1822
Born in Sussex, England
P.B.Shelley was born on 4 August 1792 in West Sussex, England. He was the
eldest legitimate son of Sir Timothy Shelley, a Sussex landowner. He had four
younger sisters and a much younger brother. He received his early education
at home. His early childhood has been recounted in ‘The life of Percy Bysshe
Shelley ‘by his friend and cousin, Thomas Medwin.
He studied at Eton college and later at Oxford University. In 1811,
Shelley anonymously published a pamphlet called ’The necessity of
Atheism’ which was brought to the attention of the university
administration and he was called to appear before the College's fellows,
including the Dean. His refusal to repudiate the authorship of the pamphlet
resulted in his expulsion from Oxford on 25 March 1811. He wrote many short
stories, essays, poems out of which the best known are Ozymandias, Ode to
the West Wind, The Cenci, Adonais, Prometheus Unbound to name a few.
Ozymandias Poem Explanation
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;
Antique: old
trunkless: without the upper body (the main part of the body of a human being
or an animal, excluding the head, neck, and limbs)
sunk: to descend below the surface of something
shattered: broken into pieces
visage: face
frown: expression of anger or displeasure
wrinkled: marks of lines or folds
sneer: facial expression of scorn or hostility in which the upper lip may be
raised
cold: without feelings for others
command: domination or control
sculptor: an artist who makes sculptures
passions: refers to the expressions on the king’s face
read: interpreted
survive: continue to exist after his death
stamped: sculpted, printed or engraved
mocked: to copy something
The poet met a traveler who came from a remote land. He told the poet
that he saw the remains of a statue in the desert. Two huge legs made
of stone stood and the remaining part of the statue – the upper body was
missing. Another part of the statue, the face lay on the sand nearby. It
was damaged and broken into pieces. The face of the statue had
expressions of displeasure and a taunting smile. The wrinkles and lines
of the face were also there. The poet says that the sculptor who had
made the statue had read the expressions on the Egyptian king
Ramesses’s face very well as he was able to copy them onto his statue
so accurately. These expressions continued to exist even after the king’s
death through this lifeless statue. The sculptor’s hands copied the king’s
ruthless expressions and mocked at them while the king’s stone heart
brought out these expressions on his face.
Ozymandias Explanation and Literary devices
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look upon 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.
Pedestal: the base of a statue
Mighty: the powerful kings of the world
Despair: without hope
beside: else
decay: broken pieces of the statue
colossal: extremely large or great
wreck: ruins
boundless: without limits
bare: without the great statue of Ozymandias
lone: the only survivor
At the base of the statue the words - "My name is Ozymandias, king of
kings: Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" were engraved.
The king introduced himself as Ozymandias, the most powerful king. He
ordered all the powerful kings of the world to look at his huge statue and
feel belittled in front of the mightiest king – Ozymandias. The poet says
that now nothing else other than this engraving remains. The statue
broke down with the passage of time and its broken pieces could be
seen lying around. The vast desert stretched all around and it seemed to
be endless. The statue of the great king Ozymandias was nowhere to be
seen.
Ozymandias Summary
This is a sonnet (a poem of fourteen lines – the first eight form an octave and
the next six form a sestet).
It is about a ruined statue which has become so with the passage of time and
here, we can correlate it with Shakespeare’s sonnet ‘Not marble, nor the
gilded monuments.
The title ‘Ozymandias’ is the throne name of Egyptian king Ramesses. The
poem talks about his foolish desire to immortalize himself by erecting a statue.
The poet meets a person who has been to an ancient place in the deserts,
Egypt. He tells the poet about the ruined statue of the great powerful king,
Ozymandias. It had been destroyed with the passage of time.
There were only the two legs which stood on a platform and the upper part of
the body was nowhere to be seen. The face of the statue lay buried in the
sand. He praises the talent of the artist as the minutest expressions and
wrinkles had been perfectly copied by him.
The engraving on the platform reflects the pride and arrogance of
Ozymandias. As the statue is now destroyed, the engraving is a mockery at
the pride and ego of the king.
Today, after the passage of so many centuries, finally there is no trace of the
king’s accomplishment in the vast stretch of the desert.
