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.
Commentary
Love poems are all very well, but my two favourite sonnets have got to be Keats’ “Chapman’s Homer” and this one. Note the sheer perfection of the line “look on my works ye mighty and despair”, and the wonderful imagery in the last line.
On a side note, this doesn’t seem to fit into any of the traditional sonnet forms, the rhyme scheme being ababa cdcdc efef, though structurally it divides into the 8 and 6 of the Petrarchan pattern.
Ozymandias, incidentally, was Rameses II, who was survived by his pyramid if nothing else. The poem itself was inspired by a shattered colossus in the Ramesseum, his funeral temple, of which the EB says ‘This temple is identified with the “Tomb of Osymandias” (a corruption of Ramses II’s prenomen) described by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in the 1st century BC’ - an inscription on the statue’s base read
I am Ozymandias, King of kings.
If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie,
let him surpass any of my works.
There’s a nice writeup on ‘The Real Ozymandias’ at http://www.savagenet.com/oz/Oz/real.htm which you are encouraged to read.
Biographical Note
Shelley was, along with Byron and Keats, one of the major poets of the Later Romantic period. They built upon the Early Romantic movement dominated by Wordsworth, Coleridge and Blake. The Romantic movement produced, IMHO, some of the finest poetry ever written in the English language, as poets embraced the new ideals of freedom and individualism sweeping Europe, and thrilled to the vibrant sense of change accompanying them. The poetic ideals of the time are perhaps best expressed in Wordsworth’s “Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.
Of the romantic movement, the EB has this to say:
As a term to cover the most distinctive writers who flourished in the last years of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th, “Romantic” is indispensable but also a little misleading: there was no self-styled “Romantic movement” at the time, and the great writers of the period did not call themselves Romantics.
and later
Poetry was regarded as conveying its own truth; sincerity was the criterion by which it was to be judged. Provided the feeling behind it was genuine, the resulting creation must be valuable.
And of Shelley himself:
Percy Bysshe (pronounced ‘Bish’) Shelley, English Romantic poet whose passionate search for personal love and social justice was gradually channeled from overt actions into poems that rank with the greatest in the English language.
[..]
Thus far, Shelley’s literary career had been politically oriented. Queen Mab, the early poems first published in 1964 as The Esdaile Notebook, Laon and Cythna, and most of his prose works were devoted to reforming society; and even Alastor, Rosalind and Helen, and the personal lyrics voiced the concerns of an idealistic reformer who is disappointed or persecuted by an unreceptive society. But in Italy, far from the daily irritations of British politics, Shelley deepened his understanding of art and literature and, unable to reshape the world to conform to his vision, he concentrated on embodying his ideals within his poems. His aim became, as he wrote in “Ode to the West Wind,” to make his words “Ashes and sparks” as from “an unextinguished hearth,” thereby transforming subsequent generations and, through them, the world. Later, as he became estranged from Mary Shelley, he portrayed even love in terms of aspiration, rather than fulfillment: “The desire of the moth for the star,/ Of the night for the morrow,/ The devotion to something afar/ From the sphere of our sorrow.”
– EB
Criticism
Shelley saw himself at once as poet and prophet, as the fine “Ode to the West Wind” (1819) makes clear. Despite his firm grasp of practical politics, however, it is a mistake to look for concreteness in his poetry, where his concern is with subtleties of perception and with the underlying forces of nature: his most characteristic image is of sky and weather, of lights and fires. His poetic stance invites the reader to respond with similar outgoing aspiration. It adheres to the Rousseauistic belief in an underlying spirit in individuals, one truer to human nature itself than the behaviour evinced and approved by society. In that sense his material is transcendental and cosmic and his expression thoroughly appropriate. Possessed of great technical brilliance, he is, at his best, a poet of excitement and power.
– EB again
And letting Dorothy Parker have the last word (since she does it so well)
Byron and Shelley and Keats
Were a trio of lyrical treats.
The forehead of Shelley was cluttered with curls, And Keats never was a descendant of earls,
And Byron walked out with a number of girls,
But it didn’t impair the poetical feats
Of Byron and Shelley,
Of Byron and Shelley,
Of Byron and Shelley and Keats.
– Dorothy Parker, ‘A pig’s eye view of literature’
— Martin
Show 22 commentsHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Brooke Sorenson · 24 October 2000
he uses the word antique not ancient it makes the poem sound intriging.
Martin DeMello · 30 October 2000
Also sprach laurie doerfler…
Actually, you misinterpreted my comment - I was alluding to the fact that, despite the fact that most sonnets are love poems, my two favourites are the atypical ‘Chapman’s Homer’ and ‘Ozymandias’.
I agree - more precisely, Rameses may not have respected the mastery of time, but that made little difference in the end.
m.
Laurie Doerfler · 30 October 2000
You seem to have misinterperted this poem. For one it is not a love poem. Romantics did not write of love. Romantics wrote of nature, the respect for, and love of. This poem says to Ramses ll, you may have been great, but even you will respect the wrath of nature and time.
Your wellcome,
Richard Doerfler
Amirtha Navarathinarasah · 17 January 2001
hey,
we wanna get our answers for questions not some craped up info, it’s useless. you’re web site is useless, just useless,
McGillicuddy Colin · 6 February 2001
Succinctly, the theme of this poem might be put, “time laughs” …
Blake Walter · 25 February 2001
I was struck by a thought; you wrote in response to one of the earlier messages:
“I agree - more precisely, Rameses may not have respected the mastery of
time, but that made little difference in the end.”
And yet, through Shelley’s poem, Ozymandias’s reign is extended a bit further. Not perhaps in the manner he (Ozymandias) would have liked, but as a warning, his name now stretches into even the post-modern conscience and finds life again amongst the ethereal essences of the Internet. Even though his vast and trunkless legs of stone may now be worn away completely, by recording them in his poem, Shelley has guaranteed them a permanence that will elude most of the rest of the rulers of this world.
As long, at least, as there are those of us who read Shelley.
Long live Ozymandias!
–Blake Walter
Nacho · 29 August 2001
Its good
Diane Diner · 29 May 2002
Hello,
My name is Jacquelyn Diner I`m almost 13 years old and I have a question about Percy Bysshe Shelley. I`m doing some research for my teacher and he would like me to find out if Shelley has ever been to Egypt to be able to write the poem “Ozymandias”. I would be very grateful if you could help me. My e-mail address is . Thank you for all your help.
Sincerely,
Jacquelyn Diner
Ssaddendum · 15 August 2002
Hi - When reading your comments on Shelley’s Ozymandias you make reference to “EB” as a source, but I can’t find any reference to what text “EB” is on your site, just curious, thanks for help. - Sarah Simons
Ashok Rajwade · 24 October 2002
i really adore this site for my literature studies. along with forming my views about poems i even get to read others views. it is like a literature class. sincerely,
ketaki rajwade
MrMalunum · 31 October 2002
I thought this poem was particularly interesting. It seems to express the idea that we work hard for what we have, but in the end we lose it all. There is a variation on this theme though; perhaps what we had was lost to us, but it is not lost to those who succeed us.
Rick Molloy · 4 November 2002
Hi Michelle,
I must admit that I am not as well versed in the syntax of poetry as you appear to be; but I do feel that ‘Ozymandias’ is one of the great poems of all time. Thirty years ago I lived in North Africa and, driving throught the desolate wastes of the sandy desert, I came upon the most spectacular ruins in the sands. Shattered statues of great rulers, long forgotten, were spread across the desert floor. Both the heat and the sparseness of the desert took your breath away. And, in that most desolate of places, you really felt a closeness to the shattering of an age. So, given my exposure to a potential ‘Ozimansias’, I really appreciated this poem, and hope that you do not find it vulgar, but find it a truly breathtaking poem.
Regards,
Rick
Robert Rovinsky · 25 April 2003
dear laurie
romantics did not write of love? perhaps you mean they didn’t write of requited love. in fact, they wrote of love all the time – when not writing about nature, that is.
r rovinsky
Maryanne Leroy · 6 March 2004
Firstly, I really love this poem.
Secondly, being Irish, a songwriter, an author,a former ad agency copywriter…I just can’t help myself…so here goes…
The Wizard of Ozmandias
(with apologies to Percy B – my man!)
We met amongst the shifting sands
in the Valley of the Kings
I parked my Tutankamun Ghia
and counted all the rings
that pierced your nose, your ears and brows a hundred shiny coils
We sat with tall drinks filled with Isis around us the desert boiled
I really feel Karnakered
you said, reclining flat
Rameses brings me to my knees
It’s as Abu Simbel as that
If we had a Seti or any kind of couch I’d be a happy Horus
and not such a big grouch
So there we sat until the dusk
on Ozymandias’ head
and watched the sands turn red as blood Nothing more was said
She flashed her Nefertiti
as the sun went down
I thought I heard a pyramid
tumble to the ground
(c) Pete LeRoy 2004
LaDyEpIc69 · 22 March 2004
Hi i need your help to find out whether Ode to the West wind has a masculine, feminin, or triple rhyme i really need your help Thanks, Ursula
albertk · 20 November 2004
In a few hundred years, no matter how great, you probably will not be remembered. All the best,
Albert Killingsworth
Judi Vangorder · 20 January 2005
This poem is a quatorzain. It could be called a sonnet. (a sonnet, little song, is written in 14 lines and is usually a lyrical meditation of sorts). There are variations of the sonnet. This poem is written in a manner closest to a Sicilian Sonnet although I found a reference on-line that identifies it as an Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet, with which I disagree. This poem is lyrical in nature but it unfolds as a narrative (telling a story).
The difference between the Sicilian Sonnet and the Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet is the rhyme scheme. The Sicilian Sonnet rhyme scheme is alternating rhyme and in its truest form is limited to 4 end rhymes (abababab cdcdcd). The Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet employs an envelope rhyme scheme in the octave abbaabba but has options in the sestet, cdcdcd or cdecde and can have as many as 5 rhyming end sounds. This poem ( with a rhyme scheme of ababacdcedefef ) starts out in alternating rhyme and ends in alternating rhyme but mixes it up in the middle a bit. It carries 6 rhyming end sounds.
The turn or volta (epiphany) of the poem in a Sicilian Sonnet and the Italian or Petrarchan Sonnet occurs slowly somewhere between L6 and L10. The volta of this poem occurs much later in L 11/12, more like the English Sonnet.
Judi Van Gorder
Billburgin2 · 10 September 2005
Since I first read it in 1954, Ozmandias has been one of my favorites. It should be
required reading, annually, for everyone from fifth grade school, throughout the remainder of their lives.
However, for some reason, I must question the conflict of the spelling in the title and within the text of the poem, i. e, Osymandias. Any comments about why?
btb · 7 June 2006
Attention to all interested in what Shelley’s art is about!Go check this link:[broken link] http://www.btb-tv.com/chomkoshelley/basic%20eng.html or alternatively, concerning P.B.Shelley’s “The
Cloud”:[broken link] http://www.btb-tv.com/chomkoshelley…etit%20eng.html <[broken link] http://www.btb-tv.com/chomkoshelley/cloud%20gogetit%20eng.html>
senorcarlos · 12 December 2007
This is one of my all-time favorite poems. I first read it in high school, and then twenty years ago (much later) I was inspired to paint a desolate landscape in an attempt to visualize this magnificent homage to hubris.
Shelley - the romantic poet, like the sculptor - provides both his own hand to mock and his own heart to feed.
The poem reminder is to all of us - but particularly to the rulers, despots, and other pompous dolts - You may be remembered, but not necessarily in the way you imagine. So get a perspective!
senorcarlos · 15 December 2007
This is one of my all-time favorite poems. I first read it in high school, and then twenty years ago (much later) I was inspired to paint a desolate landscape in an attempt to visualize this magnificent homage to hubris.
Shelley - the romantic poet, like the sculptor - provides both his own hand to mock and his own heart to feed.
The poem reminder is to all of us - but particularly to the rulers, despots, and other pompous dolts - You may be remembered, but not necessarily in the way you imagine. So get a perspective!
Carlos Ramos
Pam Smith · 19 January 2008
I have no idea how long ago you asked your question about Ozymandias; but perhaps he was inspired by the Bible, Daniel chapter 3. A friend of Shelley, Horace Smith, wrote a similar poem around the same time. (see below)
In Egypt’s sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows:
“I am great OZYMANDIAS,” saith the stone,
“The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
“The wonders of my hand.” The City’s gone,
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.
We wonder, and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro’ the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace, He meets some fragments huge, and stops to guess What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.
—Horace Smith
Notice that this poem mentions Babylon - the setting for Daniel chapter 3.
Just a thought.