Literary Devices In The Poem Ozymandias

Depicted above are lines 11, 12, and 13 from the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley. In this sonnet, a broken statue of an arrogant king is described in a desolate place that was once his empire. Line 11 is part of the inscription on the statue itself. I was drawn to this passage by the blatant irony it presents, as I am often frustrated by man who he thinks he owns nature. Humans take extreme action to work against the natural world, such instances include the deforestation of land for urbanization, the replacement of wooden trees with concrete skyscrapers, and the brutal annihilation of exquisite creatures such as the rhino by blood thirsty poachers. There are grave consequences to manipulating nature in a selfish way as opposed to working with her. Shelley reinforces this Romantic idea of nature over man in the above passage through the literary elements of diction, enjambment and the technique of irony. The diction Shelley employs contributes immensely to the atmosphere of the passage, specifically through the word choice in line 12, alliteration in line 13, and …show more content…
The mighty achievement of the king, conquering land to build an empire, did not last; the land has reclaimed it. It becomes stressed that the works of human kind will not last forever, and that it is inevitable that the earth will take back what is rightfully hers. The irony also doubles as mockery, showing Ozymandias as foolish and narcissistic for believing he could create something that would outlast the laws of nature. It belittles him and his achievement, which adds even extra irony because the statue of him is quite large. The irony is so strong and provides such a vivid picture that without it, the central theme of the poem would not have been conveyed with such power. This depth provides a warning to the reader about the consequences of the hubris of