I am Ozymandias, the Unremembered King (An analysis of message from the poem, Ozymandias)

592 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What poem links to ozymandias

At one point in all of our lives, there will come a time where we will all die. For some of us, this will happen sooner than others, but commonality between it all will be that we will all die. The famous and powerful will be remembered, while most of us will eventually be forgotten. If I could ask you the question, if you could be remember for the next one thousand years after your death, how would you like to be remembered? For some they have no control over this question. For them, they will be remembered for the actions they have already been committed. For some this is a good thing or a bad thing. For example, the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II, who wanted to be remembered as the king above kings, has now gone down in history for infamous ruler. His statues and monuments have crumbled, such as his remembrance has. In the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelly describes many important messages that we of today’s society could learn from.
The first major message from the poem, “Ozymandias” is that all great things come to end. Whether it is about a person, a country, or an idea, these...

Show More
Related

  • Seminary Reflections: An Exercise in Lectio Divina

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    While reflecting on all of the lessons learned during the first semester of seminary, I have come to the conclusion that the whole time has been an exercise in lectio divina. Never before have I read as many scholarly texts, spent so many hours meditating, praying, and pondering the words placed before me than in the past 3 months. Alas, II Kings 2 is the most challenging text with which I have had to grapple thus far. The idea of a prophet cursing children in the name of the Lord and then those same children, forty-two of them, being mauled by a she-bear required deep and intense prayer. Furthermore, after spending a considerable amount of time praying through II Kings, the text consumed my thoughts as I attempted to find God in the massacre of these precious, albeit mischievous, little ones. So the most beneficial aspect of lectio divina concerning 2 Kings is the reading component.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Ozymandias Song Viva La Vida

    378 Words  | 1 Pages

    The poem Ozymandias tells of a king who was very powerful, people feared him. He created statues of himself for people to admire. Now all that remains of his power are remains. What remains of him are memories that are now long forgotten and that the wind carries away. Sand that stretches for miles and miles until it

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Questions In The Odyssey

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    Similar to other classic literature, Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey exhibits the human struggle against a greater power, which each person must use their intellect, courage, and morals to overcome. These factors, which can be seen by the epithets and rhetorical questions, are posed to Penelope during the book. The poem is an exultation of man over the glory of the Gods because despite man’s limitations his achievements are obtained through the combination of his intelligence, fortitude and skills not supernatural powers.

    Read More

  • The Superego Behind the Id in Ozymandias

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Ozymandias" written by Percy Shelley, represents the psychological forces of the id as well as the superego, as a charceter in a poem, and as a poetic work. In the poem we encounter a traveler. He brings a message from the desert. There is a statue that exists alone among the rocks and sand. Stamped on the pedestal of that statue are these words, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

    Read More

  • The Word Name and Its Significance in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    to be remembered in a good way by being a hero or just by being good.

    Read More

  • Insights on Death in I’ve Seen a Dying Eye

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    The idea that something exists after death is uncertain in this poem, saying this, it is important that the point of view is that of the observer. The ...

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Ozymandias by Percy Shelley and Suddan Hussain

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem, written by Percy Shelley, Ozymandias is a Petrarchan sonnet compared to the second article labelled ‘Symbolic in more ways than one’ is actually a news article. This is shown through the piece as it contains a date ‘Thursday 10 April 2003', structure and content, the content is more modern so the audience know that when the subject is addressed, it will be serious rather than humorous. Ozymandias is a sonnet (a poem of 14 lines), although it doesn't have the same, simple rhyme scheme or punctuation that most sonnets have. Some lines are split by full stops and the rhyme is irregular at times. It is written in iambic pentameter, which Shakespeare used widely in his plays and sonnets. The first line and a half up to the colon are the narrator's words, the rest are those of the traveller he meets. There are no clear stanzas as such. Instead, it is one, 14-line block of text that is split up with lots of punctuation throughout. Although it doesn't have an easy, memorable rhyme scheme, the poem is powerful when read aloud. The end of lines one and three rhyme ("land / sand") but so do the first and last words of line three ("stand / sand") which gives it extra power. Lines 12 and 14 also rhyme and words such as ("decay / away") mean that the poem ends with a feeling of mystery and emptiness. The use of iambic pentameter means that it has a regular sound.

    Read More

  • Kings of Power: Ozymandias vs. Viva la Vida

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    When comparing and contrasting “Ozymandias”, written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, there is a strong contrast between the two. Ozymandias is a poem about a long-forgotten king who once had mighty power over his people, where as “Viva La Vida” is about a king who was overthrown. However, the similarities between the song and poem are astonishing. “Ozymandias” is similar to “Viva La Vida”because both texts mention a rockpile built upon sand for a king; because both texts show that the citizens are enemies of the king; and because they are both about a king who has lost his power.

    Read More

  • Foreshadowing In Ozymandias

    584 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ozymandias “Ozymandias”, written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, was published in 1818, by the Examiner. The poem was Shelley’s way to safely express his opinion of the oppressive King George III. Thru verbal and dramatic irony, Shellys poem evokes the feeling of amusement and foreshadowing. Shelly infuses verbal irony throughout the poem, to make his readers laugh.

    Read More

  • Why Do Ozymandias Fall

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    Those Who Seek Immortality Have Already Died Ruin, mortality, and high-headedness. Those three words strongly describe the nature, characteristics, and meaning behind Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” On the surface, the poem describes a traveler describing a fallen statue of a ruler partly buried within the vast sands of the desert. But without even diving immensely deep into the work’s true meanings, there are messages that can be seen fairly easily. A fallen statue in the desolate and empty desert can be compared with a person who falls in life and is left with nothing.

    Read More

  • The Statue Of Ozymandias By Percy Bysshe Shelley

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    Percy Bysshe Shelley died before seeing how influential and glorified his work would become. Shelley lived during the late 18th and early 19th century, during the industrial revolution. Seeing the evolving world, Shelley wrote for nothing more than to deliver urgent messages concerning humanity, humanity’s future, and who the powers at be should be. Shelley didn’t see the glory he deserved during his lifetime because his radical views of anti-tyranny were expressed in his poetry, driving them to underground distribution, but after his death he inspired countless other literary artists including including Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, and Upton Sinclair and became regarded as a major romantic poet. Shelley exchanged his ideas with a group of visionary

    Read More

  • Importance Of Mortality In Beowulf

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the oldest and most prominent issues that mankind has faced throughout history is that of their own mortality. In every society mankind has wrestled with the inevitable problem of their eventual death, and literature often reflects each society’s take on their mortality. For instance one of the most pronounced motifs in the epic poem Beowulf is the impending doom that each and every character knows will eventually come for them. This is most clearly illustrated by the protagonist himself in his dialogue with other characters. It is also perpetuated by the compelling need for glory and renown that many of the characters continuously search for. Lastly, the issue of mortality is presented by the preeminence of the history of the clans

    Read More

  • Lord Byron And Shelley: Themes Of Destruction

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    Death in “Ozymandias” is both an ancient and physical one, and a metaphorical one. In “Darkness,” death is brutal, agonizing, violent, and touching. In “Darkness,” Byron writes, “All the earth was but one thought – and that was death,” (Byron, Line 42). In this poem, everything dies, beginning with the sun and ending with the moon. Death is achieved through killing when the humans kill the animals for food, and through dying, which happens when the humans fail to stay warm. In “Ozymandias,” Shelley uses the crumbling statue of an Egyptian king as a metaphor for the shortness of life. The poem also points out the death of the king’s ego by directly contrasting the king’s command to “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” with the fact that his statue and his works have crumbled into the desert sands (Shelley, Line 11). Although it is not a death (because the statue was never living), it is important to note how Shelley describes the statue as “lifeless” and that what survives of it is not a symbol of Ozymandias’s great power, but a more negative portrayal of him thorough his “frown / [a]nd wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command” and that it is the talent and artistic power of the sculptor which lives on (Shelley, Lines 4-5). In short, in the poems, “Darkness” and “Ozymandias,” the overarching theme of destruction is further emphasized by the use of different ideas about different

    Read More

  • Poem Analysis: Because I Could Not Stop For Death

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    The slow feeling of the ending life is shown when the poem states, “we paused before…” with other terms like “and immortality” having its own line to emphasize the destination. The writer narrates the cause of death in the six-stanza poem in a journey form that depicts some interesting life experiences that people should have fun of during their lives. It is common that many individuals cannot stop for or wait for death that is if they can “see

    Read More

  • The Relationships of Fate, the Gods, and Man in "The Iliad"

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most compelling topics The Iliad raises is that of the intricate affiliations between fate, man and the gods. Many events related by Homer in his epic poem exhibit how these three connections interweave and eventually determine the very lives of the men and women involved in the war. Homer leaves these complex relationships slightly unclear throughout the epic, never spelling out the exact bonds connecting men's fate to the gods and what can be considered the power of fate. The motivation for the ambiguousness present in The Iliad is not easily understood, but it is a question that enriches and helps weave an even greater significance of the results into Homer's masterpiece. I feel that the interaction between man, god, and fate can be shown to be one great fluidity that ultimately leaves life mysterious, giving much more depth and complexity to the bonds between the three.

    Read More

More about I am Ozymandias, the Unremembered King (An analysis of message from the poem, Ozymandias)

Open Document