Shelley illuminates the transience of Ozymandias' power he had not achieved the legacy he believed he would and instead his works have been reduced to ' Nothing' a pronoun that highlights how forgotten Ozymandias' works have become.Shelley also shows the power of nature over man with cyclical natural imagery, the poem begins in an ' antique land' and 'desert' and ends with the alliterative line 'the lone and level sands stretch far away', Shelley, a romantic poet, highlights how fragile human power is as it can easily be ' shattered' both by the power of time and nature. Read Poem Read Analysis Share Cite Percy Bysshe Shelley Nationality: England Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the most important English poets. It is appropriate, then, that ‘Ozymandias’ one of his most famous poems is a warning about the arrogance of great leaders. It explores the idea that all power is temporary, no matter how powerful or tyrannical the ruler is, and that ultimately nature is more powerful than any human power. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) is often thought of as a rebel and revolutionary. His proud boast, which is written on the ruins of a statue of him, is a. It is an important piece that features how a great ruler like Ozymandias, and his legacy, was prone to impermanence and decay. Ozymandias was written by the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817. Ozymandias is probably a reference to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, who built impressive statues, pyramids, and kingdoms. This is further highlighted by the semantic field of destruction, 'shattered visage, lifelesss, colossal Wreck" (The capitalisation of the word Wreck works as a transferred epithet -> Ozymandias' identity has gone from being regal to being a wreck).Shelley also uses juxtaposition in the lines "Look on my Works, ye Mighty and despair!/ Nothing beside remains. Percy Bysshe Shelley ‘Ozymandias’ is about the nature of power. ' King of kings' also alludes to divine power as Ozymandias believed himself to be as or more omnipotent than God.Shelley then uses the technique of irony to highlight how Ozymandias' power has diminished over time reducing him to "trunkless legs of stone". Shelley makes usage of cacophonous alliteration to present the power Ozymandias once had, 'cold command' and 'King of Kings', these suggest Ozymandias was a stern and authoritative ruler. The poem teaches that no-one or nothing is immortal. Then we pick out any literary devices Shelley has used that link to power. Thus, he erected a statue of himself with a foolish desire to immortalize himself. How does this link to power? Shelley does not use the traditional sonnet form, this could reflect how Ozymandias' power has not survived in a traditional generational sense, the usage of a regular rhyme scheme also highlights how time has passed. Shelley uses a 14 line sonnet in iambic pentameter and a regular rhyme scheme. Firstly we want to highlight any interesting structural devices in the poem and link them to power.
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