Percy Shelley's Ozymandias
The Romantic Period began in the early nineteenth century; it radically changed the way people perceived themselves and the nature around them. Romanticism allowed people to get away from the constrained, logical views of life, and concentrate instead on the emotional side of life. Out of this time period stemmed many great poets. Their works concentrated around the themes of beauty, nature, political liberty, and imagination. Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of these poets. Born in 1792 Shelley led an intriguing, turbulent life. In 1817 Shelley and his friend Horace Smith had a contest to see who could write the best poem about Egypt. Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias" was a direct result of this contest, and it soon became a popular work in Romantic literature. When analyzed, the poem "Ozymandias" contains many poetical elements, and also conveys many different themes that associate with the romantic period. This poem is actually a story inside a story. It is about a man who meets a traveler, and this traveler tells him a tale. It is a tale about a great king named Ozymandias. This king was arrogant, and believed that his great kingdom would last forever. By the time the traveler came across the kingdom, it was destroyed, an
This poem also questions political power. He also suggests that everything will come to an end, and that nature is the only thing that will remain constant throughout time. But perhaps Shelley is trying to express that a ruler will be remembered for his compassion and devotion to his people. "Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command"Shelley conveys the belief that a ruler will not be remembered by how terrifying and powerful he was. We see his personality through the poem in lines four and five. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away"His language helps the reader picture the scene in their mind. He ruled his people with an iron fist, and preferred to be feared, rather than loved, by his people. "Ozymandias" shows the reader that one thing will live in throughout time. However, at the bottom of this sorrow, the poem holds great lessons to people who read it. The king Ozymandias once believed that he was the "king of kings", and that his kingdom and his splendor would last forever. However, now nature has outlived the king, his kingdom, his statue, and even his memory. In different context it can mean that despise all the power and wealth a person has, material possessions will not last forever.
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