Ozymandias(poem) explanation class xi

ailable Poem Analysis Requested

Here is a stanza-by-stanza summary of the poem:

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."

In the first stanza, the speaker of the poem meets a traveler who has seen a statue in a desert. The statue is described as having two trunkless legs of stone and a shattered visage (face) lying half-sunken in the sand. The facial expression on the statue is described as having a frown, wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, indicating that the statue was intended to convey the idea of a powerful ruler who commanded respect through fear.

In the second stanza, the inscription on the statue is described, which bears the name of the ruler, Ozymandias. The inscription boasts of the ruler's power and accomplishments, inviting others to look upon his works and despair in comparison.

In the final stanza, the speaker reflects on the irony of the inscription, as the statue itself is now nothing but a "colossal wreck" in a vast and empty desert, with nothing remaining of the ruler's once-great civilization. The sands stretch away boundlessly, highlighting the utter isolation and insignificance of the statue and Ozymandias himself.

The poem is a great example of a sonnet. The rhyme and meter of the poem is also interesting and complex. The poem consist of 14 lines using rhyme pattern of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, often called a "Shakespearean Sonnet" . The poem is melancholic and expresses a pessimistic view of human ambition and the passage of time.