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13 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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I met a traveler from an antique land |
Shelly frames the poem as a story to make it clear that the narrator hasn't even seen the statue himself, he's only heard about it. This emphasises how unimportant Ozymandias is now. |
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Vast... Trunkless... Stone |
Emphasises size and stature but also shows that the statue is incomplete. |
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Stand in the desert |
The setting suggest an abstract absence of life and vitality. |
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Shatter'd visage |
Ironic - even a powerful human can't control the damaging effects of time. |
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Sneer of cold command |
The sculptor understood the arrogance of the ruler. |
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Survive... Lifeless |
Having "survive" and "lifeless" on the same line hints at how at p art can outlast human power, but the ruined statue shows that ultimately art can't immortalise power. |
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The hand that mock'd them |
'Mock' can mean to ridicule, or to create a likeness of something - perhaps the sculptor intended his statue to make fun of Ozymandias. |
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King of kings... Ye mighty |
Arrogant and powerful - he even challenged other rulers. |
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Look |
Having a stressful syllable at the start of the line heightens Ozymandias's tone of command. |
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Despair! |
Irony - he tells other rulers to "despair" because of the size and grandeur of his 'works', but in fact they should despair because their power is temporary and ultimately important, like his. |
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If that colossal wreck |
The ruined statue shows how human achievements are insignificant compared to the passing of time. |
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Boundless and bare the lone and level |
Alliteration - emphasises the feeling of empty space in the surrounding desert. |
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Stretch far away. |
The desert is vast and survives far longer than broken statue, emphasising the insignificance of the statue and of Ozymandias. |
