Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822, English)
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the dessert … Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
History is a cyclic poem
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, written by time upon
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, the memories of man.
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that
fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
-Percy Bysse Shelley
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.”
Pre-Reading
Define difficult vocabulary (antique, trunkless, visage, sneer, pedestal,
colossal).
Ask students what it means to be a good leader. Is it having lots of land and
property? Is it being commanding and cold? Or is it something else entirely?
Write some answers on the board.
During Reading
Ask students to close their eyes and listen to you read the poem one time
through. Ask them to picture what is happening.
After reading, ask students to describe what they saw. What did the “traveler
from an antique land” look like? Where is this conversation taking place?
Where is the statue of Ozymandias? What does the statue look like?
Have students read the poem again to themselves. Ask them if they pictured
it differently reading it the second time.
Discussion
Ask students to think about the characteristics of a good leader that you
talked about earlier. Did Ozymandias have these characteristics? If not, what
kind of leader do you think he was? What do you think we would say if he
saw his statue now, sunken in the sand?
Ozymandias was clearly prideful. However, does the poem make pride seem
like a bad thing? Or is it only bad when abused by leaders such as
Ozymandias?
There are three different perspectives in this poem – the narrator, the
traveler, and Ozymandias. How do all of these perspectives relate to each
other? How does the inclusion of the traveler affect the feeling of the poem?
What if the poem just started at “Two vast and trunkless legs…”?
What has time done to Ozymandias’ “works”? Why should observers of those
works “despair”? What feelings might observers have of the ruins of those
works?
Relate the poem back to the students – are there any political leaders today
that they think are similar to Ozymandias? Which leaders would they want
to read this poem?
Further Activities
Choose one of Armenia’s famous ruins (such as Zvartnots Temple) and draw a
picture of it. Using your imagination, try to draw another picture of what it
looked like when it was new.
Organize a debate about art in class – “Ozymandias” explores how art and
nature are inherently linked with each other. The statue is made from stone,
and rocks and stones are found in nature. The poem explores how art
involves engagement with the natural world, but also how nature might fight
back (when it begins reclaiming the statue and Ozymandias’ “works”). Divide
the class into two sides – one side arguing that nature is essential for art
because it provides an artist with raw materials, such as stones or paper, and
the other side arguing that nature should be separate from art because it will
ultimately destroy/reclaim man-made things.
