Ozymandias
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;
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.”
Summary / Analysis
Ozymandias is a sonnet describing the ruins of a statue in the desert, the ruins of a mighty king. The poem begins as a description of a traveler giving an account of the look of a broken statue with a haughty inscription proclaiming the greatness and power of the king. The face of the statue has a "wrinkled lip" and "sneer of cold command," reflecting a powerful ruler who once commanded respect and power. But the sandy wasteland surrounding it is in direct contrast to the king's pride, demonstrating the inevitable fall of all empires and the fleeting nature of human endeavor. The poem concludes with a harsh reminder of the futility of pride, as nothing remains of Ozymandias's glory but shattered stone in a barren wasteland.
Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias" is an expression of power, arrogance, and the impermanence of human achievement. Ozymandias, the sovereign, is the personification of the tyrant who is sure of his eternal rule. His arrogance is suggested through the inscription and the statue, which states, "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!", while the wasteland expresses the decay of all human endeavor. The poem suggests that no matter how great a person is, time will ruin all achievements and eventually lead to nothingness.
The sonnet structure, with its turn, or volta, emphasizes this contrast between apparent greatness and the reality of decay. The "two vast and trunkless legs of stone" and the "lone and level sands" provide an image of desolation, reinforcing that human power is ultimately no match for the ravages of time. Shelley's irony—the fall of a king admired for his power—is a stark reminder that legacy is always a fragile matter. In a way, "Ozymandias" captures the transient nature of human ambition and warns against the folly and conceit of men who believe they can defy time.