Ozymandias: The Real King Of Kings

The Real King of Kings
Percy Bysshe Shelley was a great English romantic writer. Shelley was born to a normal household, in this time period, he was the oldest of seven and seemed to be very different from his peers. Growing up Shelly was bullied horribly, this caused him to retreat to his imagination and is most likely the reason he is such a great writer. As years go by Shelly entered University College, Oxford, but after a few months, a dean demanded that Shelley visit his office. Shelley and his friend Thomas Jefferson Hogg had co-authored a pamphlet titled The Necessity of Atheism. Its premise shocked and appalled the faculty (“…The mind cannot believe in the existence of a God.”), and the university demanded that both boys either acknowledge …show more content…
Just as the sculptor mocked Ozymandias by putting on the face of the colossal monument a "frown / And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command," so time has also mocked him by reducing his vain boast to nothingness (CliffNotes). To fully understand how it is mocking one must know the background of this feared ruler. Ozymandias was a mighty ruler who took time to conquer as much land as possible and he did not care who he had to kill or what he had to take in order for him to get what he wanted. In the time period of great pharaohs and ancient Egypt, the more land someone owned the more powerful he was, much like todays day in age. Due to Ozymandias’ pride and ambition, he did achieve his goal to have the most land, but at what cost? Ozymandias had to kill millions of innocent people to conquer these many lands, including major wars and extensive slave labor. Sadly, all of Ozymandias’ hard work seems to stand for nothing. As the years go by Ozymandias dies and so does his kingdom. Shelly expresses in his poem that there was nothing but rubble next to the statue. During the entire poem Shelly was mocking the idea of Ozymandias, a great, feared and wise ruler, believing that he was going to have a remarkable kingdom for eternity, but now no one remembers who he is unless they’re a historian or has ran across this ironic statue. The tone contributes to the …show more content…
Everything changes in due time and then time swallows them up. Humans feel weak and useless before one gets his or hands on to power. The poet uses a shattered statue to highlight the idea of fame, fortune and power. The once great king proud words "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, Look upon my work, ye mighty and despair" has been ironically disproved, his works and power have shattered into little pieces. His empire has disappeared and all has been destroyed or brought to the ground by the true king of kings, time and history. This is one of the most raved about sonnet with political overtones by the modern poet, Percy Shelley. Ozymandias symbolizes political power, but the statue is a metaphor for the pride that is in all humanity. "Dust, thou art to dust returnest" proves to be true at the end. This quote can be simplified by saying, everyone on earth was born and everyone on earth will die, despite money and power we are all created