OZYMANDIAS

Percy Bysshe Shelley

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 OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveler 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 5
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: 10
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.” 14

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 PLOT

• Read over the poem and determine the general plot of the
poem.
• Who is the speaker? What is he doing and what is he seeing
currently?

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 OZYMANDIAS – PLOT SYNOPSIS

The speaker begins with an

anecdote about meeting a I met a traveler from an antique land
person, who tells this story Who said: ”Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, The traveler describes a huge,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown broken statue out in the
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command 5 Egyptian desert. The statue’s
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read broken face still depicts the
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, pharaoh's ruthlessness
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
The statue’s inscription And on the pedestal these words appear:
remains, boasting of the ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: 10

everlasting power of the Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’

pharaoh Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Ironically, one of his civilization remains.
Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare, The statue is surrounded by barren sand
The lone and level sands stretch far away.” 14

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 DICTION
FIG 5.B – EXPLAIN THE FUNCTION OF
SPECIFIC WORDS AND PHRASES IN A TEXT.

• Read the poem over again and circle words that are unique in their use
in this poem.
• Unique could mean they are complicated, out of use, or less precise
than they could be.
• Consider why the author would use these particular words. What
connotations do they have?
• How do the relationships between adjectives and adverbs and the
words they modify affect a reader’s interaction with the text?

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 DICTION & ALLITERATION

The poem uses old-fashioned

I met a traveler from an antique land
diction to show its time of
Who said: ”Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
composition, and to fit the
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
references to ancient pharaoh
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command 5 Alliteration aides in the
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read poem’s readability and is a
Ancient Greek for Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, classic poetic element
Ramses II, one of The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
Egypt’s greatest And on the pedestal these words appear:
pharaohs ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: 10
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.” 14

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 FORM
STR 3.C - EXPLAIN THE FUNCTION OF
STRUCTURE IN A TEXT.

• Map the rhyme scheme of the poem, as well as the general

meter.
• In the box alongside the poem, record your answers to the
following questions:
• How does this poem’s rhyme scheme contribute to its structure?
• What is the relationship of each section of text to the text’s
thematic ideas?

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 FORM

I met a traveler from an antique land A

Irregular & Imperfect Who said: ”Two vast and trunkless legs of stone B Form implies it is a sonnet, but
iambic pentameter Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, A the imperfect meter and
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown B irregular rhyme scheme
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command A 5 contradicts the sonnet form
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read C
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, D
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. C
And on the pedestal these words appear: E
‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: F 10
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ E
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay G
Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare, E
The lone and level sands stretch far away.” G 14

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 ALLUSION & THEME
FIG 6.D – IDENTIFY AND EXPLAIN THE
FUNCTION OF AN ALLUSION.

• How does the allusion affect a reader’s experience with a text?

• What does this theme say about universal feelings about life and
humanity?
• Underline phrases and lines that speak to the theme of the
poem.

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 ALLUSION & THEME

I met a traveler from an antique land

The poem is discussing the Who said: ”Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
inevitability of time and its Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Shelley may be discussing his
destructive abilities. Despite Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
own impact on poetry, or
Ozymandias’ effective And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command 5
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read classic poetry in general. His
leadership abilities, his
subtle breakdown of the
civilization perished and his Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
sonnet rules show that
statue is in ruins. The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
expectations and trends of
And on the pedestal these words appear:
poetry will change, as they
‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: 10
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ did after Shelley’s death.
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that Colossal Wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.” 14

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