Analysis of poem

1. LL1 POETRY
L.O: To identify and analysis literary and language
features in Ozymandias by Shelley.

2. SHELLEY
 Born into a wealthy family in Sussex, England,
Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from Oxford
for writing The Necessity of Atheism. His
radical lifestyle at times detracted from the
appreciation of his work. He called poets “the
unacknowledged legislators of the world.” In
Shelley’s short life — he drowned while sailing at
age 29 — he produced gorgeous lyrical poetry
quintessential of the Romantic Era.

3. CONTEXT
 This poem is based on a story
Shelley had read about a
funeral temple of the Egyptian
pharaoh, Rameses II, whom
the Greeks called Ozymandias.
 According to the story, the
temple bore an inscription
which read: ‘I am Ozymandias,
king of kings; if anyone wishes
to know how great I am and
the place where kings like me
lie, let him surpass any of my
works.’

4. Ramsesses II
 Ramsesses II during his
reign built more temples
and monuments, took more
wives (8) and had more
children (over 100) than
any other pharaoh.
 He wanted to built
memorials for himself,
which he imagined would
last forever.

5. RAMSESSES II
 However, he used
slave labour to build
them and the slaves
suffered hardship
under his control.
 Today, many of
these memorials and
statues have
crumbled into the
sands of the desert.

6. THE AREA, WHERE THE STATUES ARE
BUILT, IS KNOWN AS THE VALLEY OF THE
KINGS AND A NUMBER OF EGYPTIAN
PHARAOHS ARE BURIED THERE.

7.  PercyShelley
wrote this sonnet
after seeing a
huge granite
statue of
Rameses II at
the British
museum in 1817.

8. I MET A TRAVELLER FROM AN
ANTIQUE LAND

9. HALF SUNK, A SHATTERED VISAGE
LIES

10. TWO VAST AND TRUNKLESS
LEGS OF STONE
STAND IN THE DESERT..

11. 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.

12. The poem has been interpreted in a
number of different ways, but all
centre on the irony in Ozymandias‘s
declaration that the
"Mighty should look upon my works,
and despair".

13. LANG LIT ANALYSIS
 Get into six different groups.
 Each group need to analyse the features from
the poem in the section they have been given.
 Use the relevant terminology and the cone
framework to help you know what to look for in
your area.