In the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley, he describes a meeting with someone who has traveled to a place where ancient civilizations once existed. We know from the title that he’s talking about Egypt.
The poem starts out with several imageries such as “stone”, “desert”, “sand” and “half-sunk”. Here, the stone represents nature that has built the statue. The way the statue’s legs are standing in the sand reminds us that the statute is emerging from the sand; while being half-sunk reminds us of the image of sea.
The poem is also refusing to have a constant meter which can make it hard …show more content…
Again we see that the images of nature are associated with strength and endlessness. The stones standing in the desert with the sand sucking in the visage, is the image of a greater palace than the one Ozymandias made him self. “The lone and level sands stretch far away.” This line shows that even though nature has a great place, it can still be “down to earth” and stand alone, humble and “level.” It contrasts to the great arrogance shown in the performance of Ozymandias, shown on the broken mask: “And on the pedestal these words appear: “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” Quite perfectly, on the pedestal or platform the words represent the air and fluff they hold, they are full of themselves. The way these words are placed, and what they are placed around adds irony and more meaning to the images they portray. Ozymandias describes himself as “king of kings,” to which one would look on his works and see how great they are and give up. King of kings, directing the reader to look on his works and have no hope for their own future, when it is apparent that. Another example of use of imagery and placement of words around it is seen in the description of the mask. The images of the mask and its features are surrounded by the lighter images of nature and the process of the sculptor, putting