how is power presented in ozymandias essay

Ozymandias Summary & Analysis by Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
  • Poetic Devices
  • Vocabulary & References
  • Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
  • Line-by-Line Explanations

how is power presented in ozymandias essay

“Ozymandias” is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley wrote “Ozymandias” in 1817 as part of a poetry contest with a friend and had it published in The Examiner in 1818 under the pen name Glirastes. The title “Ozymandias” refers to an alternate name of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. In the poem, Shelley describes a crumbling statue of Ozymandias as a way to portray the transience of political power and to praise art’s ability to preserve the past. Although the poem is a 14-line sonnet, it breaks from the typical sonnet tradition in both its form and rhyme scheme , a tactic that reflects Shelley’s interest in challenging conventions, both political and poetic.

  • Read the full text of “Ozymandias”

how is power presented in ozymandias essay

The Full Text of “Ozymandias”

1 I met a traveller from an antique land,

2 Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

3 Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

4 Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

5 And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

6 Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

7 Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

8 The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

9 And on the pedestal, these words appear:

10 My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

11 Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

12 Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

13 Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

14 The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

“Ozymandias” Summary

“ozymandias” themes.

Theme The Transience of Power

The Transience of Power

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Theme The Power of Art

The Power of Art

Theme Man Versus Nature

Man Versus Nature

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “ozymandias”.

I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said

how is power presented in ozymandias essay

—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Lines 12-14

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

“Ozymandias” Symbols

Symbol Sand

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

Symbol The Statue

“Ozymandias” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

Alliteration

“ozymandias” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Ozymandias”

Rhyme scheme, “ozymandias” speaker, “ozymandias” setting, literary and historical context of “ozymandias”, more “ozymandias” resources, external resources.

British Library's "Introduction to Ozymandias" — The British Library has a short introduction to "Ozymandias" that includes excerpts of potential sources for the poem, historical information about Ramses II (Ozymandias), as well as details about Shelley's radical politics.

Draft of "Ozymandias" — The Bodleian Library at Oxford University digitized and transcribed an early draft of "Ozymandias" from 1817 and made it available online. 

"Ozymandias": Original Printing — Shelley first published "Ozymandias" in The Examiner in 1818, under the name "Glirastes." This is a scan of the first edition printing.

British Museum: The Younger Memnon — This website shows the statue of Ramses II (Ozymandias), the discovery of which may have inspired Shelley's poem.

Breaking Bad and Ozymandias — The tv show Breaking Bad featured the poem "Ozymandias" in a trailer for the final season. The BBC explains why and embeds the trailer in the webpage. 

LitCharts on Other Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley

England in 1819

Love’s Philosophy

Music, When Soft Voices Die

Ode to the West Wind

Song to the Men of England

Stanzas Written in Dejection, Near Naples

The Question

To a Skylark

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

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What I love… Education based blog by @susansenglish

Why I love…Comparing Ozymandias and London

I tasked my tutoring group with pre-annotating Ozymandias and London to come to the group with some ideas about the poem.

When they arrived, we went through Paper 2 (Language) Q4 and focused on the top tips for this question and in a few weeks time, I’ll test these top tips with them when they complete a Paper 2. In the meantime, I wrote an introduction to go through with them and a first paragraph to show them a higher level introduction which stuck to the basics that we discussed in last weeks session and added to these with a bit of writers’ intentions and context (linking both the poems).

These are the ideas that we gathered and what we discussed in relation to context.

2020-01-25

The question was:

How is power presented in Ozymandias and one other poem from the anthology? (we used London).

Then, I planned as I would ask them to:

Ozymandias and London links 

  • Entitlement/arrogance
  • Ordinary suffer
  • Meaningless in long term
  • Ramoses II – Ozymandias
  • Romantic – Shelley
  • Innocence vs Experience
  • Power (politics) anti
  • Comp (although I can’t remember what I meant by this as it was an abbreviation of my thought process) I used this as an example of making notes clear!

I explained that I’d noticed context embedding missing in almost all the Anthology essays that I’d marked and that this suggested when planning making a quick note of this would serve as a good reminder for them to include this in their essays.

As you can see from the picture I annotated the introduction to exemplify what I was trying to show them.

The full essay is below:

Ozymandias by Blake and London by Shelley are both poems which reveal the corrupting influence of power. Both poets reflect on power as something that creates a sense of entitlement or arrogance, as a way to make those lacking in power suffer and to show that ultimately power and status is meaningless in the long term as all power is equalised by death. The poets Blake and Shelley appear to want to show through their depictions of people, how power in the wrong hands is used for evil, therefore both create a social commentary relating to hierarchical power structures and their inherent unfairness.

It appears clear that power when gained leads to a sense of entitlement that causes arrogance and disdain towards lower class people. In Ozymandias Shelley makes this distinction through the ruin of the statue which immortalises the ruler in stone. The plosives in “sneer of cold command” with the assonant sounds create an impression of an unking, uncaring and callous leader, who disrespects and disregards his subjects thoughts and feelings due to his own belief in his superior nature. Furthermore, the sculptor “well those passions read” as stated by the narrator (who was told the story second hand) creates a tone of sarcasm about the great ruler. The story was based on Ramoses II whose likeness was sculpted on a huge stone statue, which would have been very difficult to create and would have caused great pain and suffering to those who were commanded to create the statue. Interestingly, in Blake’s poem the ruling classes are criticised from afar creating a sense of distance that rulers had from their subjects. For example, Blake, when wandering at night through the streets of London was struck by the poverty and suffering of the poor and commented on this through repetition of “Marks on every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe” which implies that the people are suffering intensely and that they feel sorrowful and impotent. The use of “marks” indicates that this is written all over the faces of the people of London and suggests that this suffering is widespread. The entitlement of the ruling classes can be seen in this is through the disregard for the poor. When “blood runs down the palace walls” the insinuation is that the monarchy are to blame for more suffering, that of the soldiers, and that they are complicit in this suffering. The ‘blood’ is being shed and as a result of decisions that the Government and Monarchy have made innocent men are dying. Perhaps, both poets feel resentment towards the rulers who have not used their power to help people but instead allowed them to suffer while they take what they like and live lives that are privileged. This is exemplified in “King of Kings” with the arrogant assumption that Ozymandias is better than and more in control of others than anyone else. The repetition makes a god-like assertion of himself and shows the sense of entitlement that the ruler had.

The  people in the poems suffer through their lack of power. This is evident in “the hand that mocked them, the heart that fed;” with the caesura creating impact and making us pause to realise how callous and cruel the ruler is towards the ordinary people. “Mocked” has connotations of belittling, being rude towards others and ridiculing which shows how they suffer at the “hand (s)” of their ruler, who is supposed to look after his subjects. Instead he gets them to do hard labour in order to create an ostentatious symbol of his power, through the size of the statue “two vast and trunkless legs of stone”. The use of the adjective “vast” creates the idea of the immense size of the legs. Although, the intention was to create something to immortalise the ruler, the statue is ruined which infers that power is not something that can be held onto and how you behave towards others is more important than creating a symbol of your power. Shelley is commenting on the unfairness of political systems in the poem and is showing his disdain for organised rule, while Blake is also commenting on the corrupt nature of politicians, the monarch and organised societal structures in London, because the cause great suffering to all. Repetition is again used by Blake to reinforce the great suffering of all mankind in “In every cry of every man…” with the use of “every” reinforcing the widespread nature of the sorrow that is felt by all members of society. “Man” is used as a collective noun to encompass all humanity and Blake further reinforces this bleak outlook on mankind’s suffering in the metaphor he uses at the end of the second stanza. “The mind-forg’d  I hear” with the enjambement leading onto more suffering for the small children who were forced to go up the chimneys to clean them. This is an indication of the poverty and suffering that employers meted out in the Victorian era towards their employees, in this case small children. However, the metaphor indicates that even the people are suffering mentally, are trapped and have no way out. In this way Blake comments on how power creates a trap for every member of society as they have no escape. This entitlement, arrogance and suffering caused through power is in the end pointless.

The pointlessness of trying to maintain power is shown in both poems as nature takes over. The desert sands overtake the statue and it remains ruined and broken and negative description of what remains reinforces this “decay” “colossal wreck” “boundless and bare”. These all show that “Nothing beside remains.” meaning that for all the cruelty and desire to be remembered, actually what is left is a ruin. Death here means that nobody has maintained the great statue that was built to keep the rulers image alive. The idea that death equalises everything is also evident in the final metaphor “blights with plague the marriage hearse” which has an extremely cynical tone and indicates that we all die and that Blake doesn’t believe in the sanctity of marriage. The use of “plague” has biblical connotations and shows that the institute of marriage is flawed and as with the rest of the poem the criticism of institutions is evident here. Blake has shown that we all die and that there is little in the world that is innocent. Maybe, he was influenced by the way the world was changing and not for the better during the industrial revolution. Cottage industry was almost decimated and people had to move to the big cities, like London to find work, meaning that they were overcrowded, conditions were unsanitary and the worst behaviour was on show. Blake evidently disliked this fast paced change and was suspicious of it. Shelley, however doesn’t show suspicion but seems cynical of how power is used, when in the wrong hands.

Both Blake and Shelley comment on the way power corrupts those that have it, how it is used to create and cause suffering for those who are innocent or who least appear to deserve it and show that death and nature in the end are more powerful and important than the social constructs that create powerful leaders.  Perhaps, both poets wanted to show us that their experiences and understanding of the world had been shaped and changed the more they knew and understood about human nature and that when we think about it carefully the natural world that we have around us is most powerful.

Ozymandias vs London

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18 thoughts on “ why i love…comparing ozymandias and london ”.

This is brilliant. Thank you!

Thanks Yamina, I found it really hard to do and then doubted myself, so this is reassuring. Thank you.

Like Liked by 1 person

Ozymandias by Blake and London by Shelley – wrong way around. Shelley wrote Ozymandias.

I know, thanks. I dealt with the mistake, when discussing the poems with the students.

Hello susansenglish can this be used to get a 9 in english please?

Using this example as it is would be plagiarism. You can use it as a model to help your understanding of the poem.

Hello I’m in y11 now my GCSE is coming up and I find it hard to write poems can u help me plz

You need to write about the poems. Have a look at the comparison collection on the blog to help.

Can you recommend some structural devices and explanation on those structural devices by the quotes in the poem.

Sonnet form, use of enjambment and end stopping, the narrative voice.

London is by Blake not Shelley and Ozymandias is by Shelley not Blake

Thanks, I know. I accidently put it round the wrong way when doing the example. All human!

Is there a use of form, structure and language in this essay?

This is great! Thank You!

  • Pingback: Why I love…Comparison Collection Power & Conflict AQA – susansenglish

i used this in my mocks and got a 9 thanks did it word for word

This isn’t to copy, it is an example! You are supposed to do your own thinking. I wouldn’t recommend in the real exam doing this, as its called plagiarism and if caught you’ll gain no marks.

Really appreciate this. Thanks so much

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AQA GCSE English Literature

how is power presented in ozymandias essay

Ozymandias: Power and Conflict Analysis

Ozymandias was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817 and published in 1818. Shelley was a Romantic poet. The Romantics were concerned with issues such as the power of nature and the oppression of governments and other institutions.

Shelley wrote the poem after hearing that the British Museum had acquired a large fragment of the broken statue of the Egyptian pharaoh, Rameses II. The Greeks called him ‘Ozymandias’. Shelly views him as a cruel leader who enslaved people to build memorials for him. He imagined – incorrectly – that these would last forever.

how is power presented in ozymandias essay

I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)

Poem Summary

The narrator meets a traveller from a country with a long history of civilisation. The traveller tells him about a statue that was discovered. The face and body of the statue are broken. However, it is possible to see a cruel sneer on the face. An inscription at the base of the statue reads:

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings Look on my works ye mighty and despair”

Surrounding this broken statue is nothing but sand.

The Poem’s Key Message

Shelley demonstrates how all human power is temporary. Ozymandias may have seemed all-powerful in his lifetime, but now his statue has disintegrated in the sands of the desert. It is the powers of time and neglect that have eroded Ozymandias’s statue, which highlights the impermanence of human endeavours compared to the enduring power of nature.

  • Shelley describes the statue’s face to show Ozymandias’s cruelty. It has a “frown”, “wrinkled lip”, and “sneer of cold command”. These all point to a brutal and aggressive leader.
  • We also see his arrogance as he calls himself the “King of Kings” and tells other rulers to “despair” at his greatness.
  • The image of sand is important in the poem. The “decay” of the statue is surrounded by “sands” that “stretch far away”. Sand is often associated with time as it is used in an hourglass (an old-fashioned timing instrument). Therefore, the sand in the poem shows how time weakens all human power.
  • A framing device is used to narrate the poem. The narrator recalls what a “traveller from an ancient land” has told him, rather than having seen it himself. This makes Ozymandias seem like even more of a forgotten figure because he is only known by people in that land who have seen the broken statue.
  • The poem builds gradually with descriptions of the different parts of the statue. It climaxes with the dramatic words on the inscription. The pace then drops as we are told: “Nothing beside remains.” This shows how the statue and Ozymandias himself have now lost all significance.

The poem is written in sonnet form. Sonnets are often love poems, so Shelley could have used the form here to demonstrate Ozymandias’s love for himself.

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Home Essay Examples Literature Ozymandias

The Presentation Of Power In Ozymandias And Storm On The Island

  • Category Literature
  • Subcategory English Literature
  • Topic Ozymandias

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‘Ozymandias’ by Percy Shelley and ‘Storm on the Island’ by Seamus Heaney both present nature and time as powerful forces which can have an overwhelming effect on humans. In Heaney’s poem, the impact is on a whole community, whereas in Shelley’s poem it is affecting one man. Shelley was a socialist which means that he was against extreme powers of man, this is shown by Ozymandias’ statue having fallen down which represents his loss of power. Heaney lived through the Irish civil war from 1969-1998 where men were engaged in a power struggle but he conveys that nature is ultimately more powerful than man.

Both poems demonstrate the ways in which the power of nature and time is greater than any human power. In ‘Ozymandias’ Shelley depicts how human power is ultimately lost over time. Ozymandias’ ‘trunkless legs of stone’, are the only bit left of his statue which presents the destruction of man’s power in time. It also emphasises the former size and stature of the incomplete statue. Ozymandias boasts about his power and describes himself as ‘king of kings’, which now seems foolish as no one remembers him. Ozymandias is the Greek name for the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II. The tyranny of the ruler is suggested through the aggressive language and tone. This reinforces the foolishness of Ozymandias’ belief in his lasting power, which actually is diminishing in the face of nature and time. Similarly in ‘Storm on the Island’ Heaney contrasts the confidence of the Irish people at the start of the poem with their feelings near the end, when they start to fear the storm which they realise is more powerful than them. The Irish say ‘we are prepared’, which highlights their confidence that they are safe and secure. The collective pronoun ‘we’ also reinforces the feeling of safety. The last line ‘it is a huge nothing that we fear’, implies the storm is invisible and there is nothing solid there, which contrasts the solid ‘rock’ earlier in the poem. ‘Huge nothing’ is an oxymoron which implies how Protestants and Catholics in Ireland both believe in the same Ggod yet they are fighting against each other. It suggests how two things which are close to each other are so different from each other. This makes the reader feel concerned for the people of Ireland. These examples represent that human power and conflict are temporary and that nature is the most powerful.

Furthermore, there are also many contrasting points in both poems. In ‘Storm on the Island’ the power of nature is a main form of power, whereas in ‘Ozymandias’ there is also an example of the power of man being highlighted. In ‘Storm on the Island’ Heaney uses a range of sound patterns in the poem to build up the storm’s intensity. The description that the storm ‘pummels’ their houses is violent imagery and the plosive makes it sound forceful. Here the tone changes, increasingchanges increasing the danger. The waves ‘exploding comfortably’ is an oxymoron that juxtaposes the feelings of fear and safety. It conveys the speaker’s mixed emotions about the power of the natural world. The assonant ‘i’ sounds and sibilance in lines 14-17 combine to imitate the hissing and spitting sounds of the sea. This makes the reader frightened for the safety of the people in the storm. On the other hand, in ‘Ozymandias’, Shelley tells us how someone else made Ozymandias’ statue meaning that he doesn’t have all the power if someone else creates a likeness of him and could control how it looked. Ozymandias’ ‘sneer of cold command’ shows the sculptor understood the arrogance of the ruler he was making. Shelley depicts ‘the hand that mocked them’, where mock can mean to ridicule or to create a likeness of something. Perhaps the sculptor intended his statue to make fun of Ozymandias. This could also link back to Shelley’s personal life because he was frequently mocked because of his atheist, humanist, socialist and feminist views. This makes the reader feel sympathy towards Shelley because he was ridiculed for his thoughts on equality. These aspects represent different ways in which man and nature are powerful.

In both poems, the poets use a range of structure and language techniques to develop their ideas about power. ‘Ozymandias’ is a sonnet, with a turning point (volta) at line 9. However, it does not follow the regular sonnet rhyme scheme, reflecting the way human power can be disrupted and destroyed. It uses iambic pentameter, but this is also disrupted. The narrator ‘met a traveller from an antique land’, this opening sentence makes it clear the narrator hasn’t even seen the statute, only heard about it, which emphasises how unimportant Ozymandias is now. The stressed syllable ‘look’ at the start of line 11 heightens Ozymandias’ tone of command. Likewise in ‘Storm on the Island’ Heaney uses a lot of poetic devices and forms to create an effect. The poem is written in blank verse, which mirrors everyday speech and makes the poem sound like part of a conversation. The poem is all one stanza, showing it is compact and sturdy like the ‘houses’. The first person plural ‘we’ illustrates a collective, communal experience. Heaney describes that the sea ‘spits like a tame cat’, a simile that conveys how familiar things become frightening during the storm. The use of caesura throughout helps to slow the pace of the poem. ‘No trees, no natural shelter’ is an example of how caesura is used to emphasise the second ‘no’. This makes the reader feel pity for the people of Ireland because their homes have been destroyed by the storm and they have nowhere to go. Overall, in both poems, the structure and language help the reader to understand the poets’ ideas about power.

In conclusion, Percy Shelley and Seamus Heaney both present nature and time as powerful forces which can have an overwhelming effect on humans in their poems. Shelley was a socialist and wrote the poem of Ozymandias, a powerful king, losing his power and name because he didn’t believe in people having more power over other people. Heaney was opposed to people fighting the civil war in Ireland and he wrote a poem showing that nature is overall the most powerful. Both poems imply that the power of nature and time is greater than any human power, through both their language and their subject matter.       

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AC studies

AQA “Power and Conflict”: Ozymandias and Kamikaze analysis

The current educational situation is more challenging than ever, with closing schools and exam uncertainties impacting students all over the country. This is especially for GCSE students looking to keep up their essay and study skills, which is why I have moved all lessons online and will be providing as many digital resources, hints and tips as possible over the coming months.

When it comes to poetry, many students find essay structure the hardest part to master. There is really nothing complicated to this though, and if you follow the trusty PEEZAP structure (useful for all essay subjects, not just English), then your analysis will be off to a flying start. I have provided a model example of this structure below – comparing Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland below. But first, what exactly is PEEZAP?

  • P – Point (i.e. make your key statement or argument)
  • E – Evidence (back this up with a quotation from the text)
  • E – Explanation (tell me why this piece of evidence supports your point)
  • Z – Zoom (go into more detail, i.e. is there anything else in the text that backs up your argument, or any other way you can develop your point)
  • A – Analyse (another quote and some terminology to support your “zoom”)
  • P – Perspective (poems, plays and novels are all written by people, for people – how does all this impact the reader, do you have any context to explain the writer’s intentions?)

If you are unfamiliar with these poems, watch the YouTube videos first. Then take a look at the essay below. Be a critical teacher! Do you agree with the PEEZAP markings, and what would you improve – and why?

An Ozymandias reading by Bryan Cranston and BBC Teach analysis by Akala:

There is also a very useful colour-coded reading of Kamikaze , in addition to a Guardian documentary on real-life Kamikaze pilots:

Feeling ready? Let’s go on the structure masterclass…

In Ozymandias, the poet explores ideas about fate and power. Compare this with one other poem of your choice ( Kamikaze ).

Introduction – Introduce your main point (in relation to the question), before focusing on what the poems have in common, as well as differences. Even if they deal with similar themes, no two poems will be exactly the same – so show you’re aware of the nuances.

In Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley and Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland, both poets present ideas about the inevitability and inescapability of fate. In Ozymandias , Shelley presents the decaying statue of an ancient King as an allegory for the eventual end of power that we are all fated to suffer – most especially the proud. Kamikaze also deals with the futility of trying to avoid one’s fate (and death), but from a much more personal, human perspective. Whilst these two poems differ greatly in their structure, settings and imagery, both ultimately provide the same (somewhat sombre) memorial to human beings inevitably and powerlessly subject to the vicissitudes of fate and their own mortality.

PEEZAP Paragraph 1

PEEZAP Paragraph 2

Structure – More difficult to follow the PEEZAP structure exactly – but so important to think about how each poem’s rhyme scheme and structure reinforces its central message.

Whilst Garland’s poem is presented in seven regular sestets (with a shift to italics to indicate a change of speaker), there is no overt rhyme scheme. This can be compared with Ozymandias , which also has a regular structure (written in a sonnet form, in iambic pentameter) and an irregular rhyme scheme. For Shelley, the irregular rhyme scheme could be symbolic of the broken statue itself – no longer perfect, and falling apart as the poem progresses. The sonnet form (usually composed as romantic love poems) could serve as a further ironic joke about the ruler’s ill-fated ego – or perhaps offer a more nostalgic, romantic tone of a lost legend. In a similar way, Garland’s poem offers no easy answers to the question posed by the pilot’s fate. Just like the non-existent rhyme scheme, no neat or easily comprehensible solutions are presented– challenging the reader to make their own judgments on events.

Conclusion – This should reflect the points made in the introduction – pointing out the similarities and differences.

In conclusion, both Ozymandias and Kamikaze depict central protagonists attempting (and failing) to escape their own fate. Whilst Ozymandias presents a more ironic description of a ruler sure of his own power and infallibility, Kamikaze presents a more nuanced, personalised description of an individual pilot trying to return home. Both poems explore the attempt to escape our human mortality in one way or another however, and both show characters ultimately drawn back to their very human, very lonely destinies – both fated to be forgotten and ignored in one way or another.

For more essay skills practice, take a look at my previous post on GCSE English terminology . With a combination of good structure, killer analysis and sophisticated terminology – you can’t go wrong. Do get in touch with any questions, and happy essay writing!

More  Power and Conflict  sample poetry essays:

  • A comparison of  Exposure  and  Charge of the Light Brigade
  • A comparison of  Tissue  and  The Émigrée
  • A comparison of  Storm on the Island and The Prelude
  • A comparison of London and My Last Duchess

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5 thoughts on “ AQA “Power and Conflict”: Ozymandias and Kamikaze analysis ”

  • Pingback: Storm on the Island and The Prelude: GCSE Poem Analysis – AC studies

I just came across the Ozymandias poem and it made me stop and reasses my priorities in life. It’s a powerful piece and this review does both those poems justice. 👏

Like Liked by 1 person

Hi Kendi – thank you so much, that’s amazing it’s changed your own thought processes – how powerful. It’s a great and really thought provoking poem isn’t it? Really glad you enjoyed the analysis as well, and thanks for sharing.

Hi there! You helped me massively with my English poetry essay on the power of humans by the unique ideas discussed on this blog post so really, thank you so much! The ideas were unique and perceptive and many of my English teachers believe that Kamikaze and Ozymandias cannot be compared but this has been really insightful. Thank youu ❤

Hi – thank you very much for your message, and I am so glad that you found some of the ideas in the essay useful! All the very best for your studies, and good luck for any upcoming exams! 🙂 Amelia

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“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Decay of Political Power Essay

Introduction.

The poem Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelly, is a fascinating examination of a decaying statue that resonates a central principle: history marches forward and no man can stop it. It is through various literary techniques that Shelly’s belief — art and language outlast politics — shines through. As the poem creates the mysterious sculpture found in “an antique land” and subsequently destroys it, the reader experiences a sense of ironic loss that almost hedges into hopelessness. Shelly’s poem Ozymandias effectively communicates that political power is not everlasting and even the most feared of leaders cannot halt the passage of time through its use of irony, alliteration, and metaphor.

Shelly’s main literary device in Ozymandias is his use of irony to emphasize the decay of political power at the hands of time. Ironically, Ozymandias’ statue bears a “wrinkled lip” and “sneer of cold command”, features that indicate a powerful and foreboding king, but the statue itself is falling apart. Even the inscription declaring that people should “look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” is ironic; the reign would no longer strike fear in anyone for it had crumbled many years ago. Shelly examines the statue, constructing an image of the king and his rule only to rip it apart in the latter half of the poem by pointing out that there was very little left of even the statue, just as there is nothing left of Ozymandias’ reign. This sense of irony, that a king who was so feared that his people suffered by “the hand that mocked them…” lost his kingdom and life to the sands of history, which eventually overtake all men, runs deeply in Shelly’s Ozymandias.

Shelly uses alliteration frequently in Ozymandias to draw attention to certain images throughout the poem. The use of alliteration gives the poem a rhythm and flow in addition to illuminating the importance of certain lines. The letter ‘s’ in particular is repeated on three separate alliterative occasions. At the beginning of the poem, Shelly describes where the traveler found the statue, “…on the sand, [h]alf sunk, a shattered…”. This draws the reader’s attention to the hidden, already destroyed image of the statue; it is not proudly displayed anymore, it is buried and hidden and alone. The ‘s’ alliteration continues as Shelly describes the sneer and “cold command” that “…yet survive, stamped on…” the statue’s pedestal. This particular point is alliterated not once but twice because it is, simply, the entire point of the poem. Shelly uses “sneer”, “survive”, and “stamped” to reiterate the ‘s’ sound as well as “cold command” within the same sentence to emphasize that art lives on, the sculptor’s work survived, even though Ozymandias is long dead and his period of rule long since over. Finally, Shelly says that “the lone and level sands stretch far away” at the end of the poem, giving the illusion of never-ending space that stretches forever; history goes forever, no one can stop it. Through the use of alliteration, Shelly commands his reader’s attention to the central theme of his poem; no political power is strong enough to resist the decay of time.

The decaying statue in Ozymandias is a metaphor for the decay of political power. Shelly effectively utilizes this metaphor throughout the poem to emphasize that political power is not ever-lasting. Art, however, is eternal and despite the march of time, the statue remains as evidence of what was and what has been lost. The broken statue itself is a metaphor of a ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ sentiment. Shelly describes the statue, the king, the rule, and even the people under Ozymandias, but in the latter half of the poem, the statue is nothing but a “colossal wreck”. “Nothing beside remains”, save for the inscription and the sneer on the statue’s ancient face. Ozymandias is lost and his kingdom gone. He is even further removed from the reader because Shelly uses the narrator as a person relaying a story he heard from yet someone else. Not only is the reign of the king over, not only is his statue a decaying mess, but he is not even directly known to the author; Ozymandias is so far removed from history, he may as well not even exist. But the statue heralded a much-feared, strong king from a bygone era, illustrating Shelly’s metaphor that encompasses the entire poem. The lost king Ozymandias could not hold onto his power, but the sculptor’s statue lasted throughout the ages.

The poem Ozymandias is an incredible illustration of how nothing can last forever; no man can hold onto absolute power for all time. Everyone who lives also dies, every era and every kingdom will eventually dissolve or morph into something different. Art, however, carries forward forever, even if it is a “colossal wreck” by the time it is rediscovered. Through Shelly’s use of irony, alliteration, and metaphor, the reader experiences a dramatic sense of haunting reality: everything ends and people are powerless to stop it.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 30). “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Decay of Political Power. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ozymandias-by-percy-bysshe-shelley-decay-of-political-power/

"“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Decay of Political Power." IvyPanda , 30 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/ozymandias-by-percy-bysshe-shelley-decay-of-political-power/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Decay of Political Power'. 30 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Decay of Political Power." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ozymandias-by-percy-bysshe-shelley-decay-of-political-power/.

1. IvyPanda . "“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Decay of Political Power." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ozymandias-by-percy-bysshe-shelley-decay-of-political-power/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "“Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Decay of Political Power." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ozymandias-by-percy-bysshe-shelley-decay-of-political-power/.

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Percy Bysshe Shelley: The Idea Of Power In The Ozymandias

  • Category: Literature , Life
  • Topic: Ozymandias , Percy Bysshe Shelley , Power

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