Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay for ozymandias by percy bysshe shelley in English
Essay for ozymandias by percy bysshe shelley in English
Essay for ozymandias by percy bysshe shelley in English
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Despite the vast differences between the many cultures that make up the world’s population, certain key characteristics, some good and some bad, have shown themselves in every civilization, regardless of time or location. One negative characteristic that has repeatedly made an appearance in the world’s history is man’s desire for power. In the sonnet “Ozymandias”, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, power, which humans consistently fight over and which is also the cause of arrogance in many, is shown as insignificant through the description of a statue’s ruins. The statue is of an ancient ruler, Ozymandias, and throughout the poem he is characterized as powerful, yet arrogant because of his power. Shelley mocks the once great and feared Ozymandias, who is now little known and whose empire has decayed over time. Percy Shelley has utilized the poetic form of “Ozymandias” and the structure of each line, including punctuation, word placement, and quotes, to contribute to the description of the statue and its setting, which in turn supports the central idea that the power of man and all man made creations are insignificant against the passage of time.
In “Ozymandias”, Shelley shows the unimportance of human power as time goes on by describing a statue, which depicts a once powerful man, that now lies in ruins. The poem begins with “I met a traveler from an antique land / Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / Stand in the desert…” (1-3). The ambiguity of who told the speaker of the statue and where the statue is located alludes to the unimportance of the once great and powerful man whom the sculpture represents. If the location of the decaying art piece was made more clear , it would imply that the man’s power had survived the pass...
... middle of paper ...
...10), was not spared by the passage of time. This central theme is well supported through the poetic structure of the poem. The way each line is structured changes how it is read, and in poetry the way a line is read can be just as significant as the words that make up the line. There is meaning tied to many of the small details in this poem’s structure, which includes the punctuation, the use of alliteration, and the placement of the different components throughout. The poetic form of “Ozymandias” has been put to use in order to aid in the description of the statue and the setting, and this description aides in supporting the central message of time’s destructiveness against human power and creation.
Works Cited
Ferguson, Margaret W., Mary Jo Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. ""Ozymandias"" The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. New York: Norton &, 2005. 870+. Print.
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
‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Shelley and ‘My Last Duchess’ have many links and similar themes such as power, time and art. ‘Ozymandias’ shows the insignificance of human life after passing time whilst ‘My Last Duchess’ speaks of his deceased wife in a form of a speech.
"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!"
Pride has been a heavily associated trait with the human race since the existence of time as if it is fused in the blood of the populations. Although not all individuals suffer from pride, it's effects can be commonly seen in a vast majority of individuals. Both Percy Shelley, author of "Ozymandias," and Dahlia Ravikovitch, author of "Pride," explore the effects of pride in relation to an individual's success or legacy. Percy Shelley wrote during the early 1800’s as a primary poet of the English Romanticism Movement. Dahlia Ravikovitch, an Israeli Poet, wrote primarily during the mid-1940s, however, “Pride” is special because it did not reflect her usual patterns. Through the use of literary techniques and tone, both authors present their poem with the intent to communicate that pride ultimately results in ruin.
Allison, Barrows, Blake, et al. eds. The Norton Anthology Of Poetry . 3rd Shorter ed. New York: Norton, 1983. 211.
Shelley, Percy. “Written Among The Euganean Hills, North Italy,” English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald. The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
Aeschylus. The Oresteia. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Ed. David Grene and Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1953.
Huston, Kristin N. "Percy Shelley and Lord Byron." UMKC Campus, Kansas City. 20 Sept. 2010. Lecture.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. Prometheus Unbound. Shelley’s Poetry and Prose. Ed. Donald H. Reiman and Neil Fraistat. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2002. 206-283.
Shelley envisioned a strong sense of humanity in her novel. She encapsulated the quintessence of the period in which she lived by expressing ideologies, such as humanity’s relationship with God and the hypothesis of nature versus nurture. The relationship with God was vividly changed during the industrial era.
This poem describes a story told you by a passing traveler of a ruined statue of a king, Ozymandias, seemingly in a desolate desert. On the statue in is inscribed, “‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’/Nothing beside remain” (“Ozymandias” 10-12). Upon examination of the surrounding land, we realize that the once vast kingdom around the statue has been taken back by the desert, leaving the ironic message on the statue. This poem shows Shelley’s ideas of how all is temporary, especially mankind and our achievements. Showing romantic values, Shelley believed nature is much greater than man and no matter how big your kingdom, mather nature will always take back what was always
It is nature that destroys humankind when the sun disappears and the volcano erupts in “Darkness” and in “Ozymandias,” it is the sand and wind that causes the statue to fall. In Byron’s poem, humans lose the fight for their lives, and in Shelley’s poem, Ozymandias’s statue is powerless because it is lifeless, emphasizing the importance of the themes of life and death to the shared topic of destruction. Although they explore destruction using different language, they share the use of ideas about the destruction of civilization, and the fall of humankind because of nature, life and
Bloom, Harold and Golding, William. Modern Critical Views on Mary Shelley. Edited with an introduction by Harold Bloom. Chelsea House Publishers, New York, 1985.
Bysshe. The "Ozymandias". .The Norton Anthology of English Literature. The.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “A Defence of Poetry.” The Longman Anthology: British Literature: Volume 2A – The Romantics and Their Contemporaries. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 2003. 801-810.