Essay About Common Desire And 1St Century Bc

Ozymandias
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Ozymandias
Ozymandias (1818)
I met a traveler 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, 5
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; imitated
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: 10
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.
Humans throughout history have striven to overcome their mortality
by leaving something of themselves behind — evidence of their existence.
The subject of Shelleys poem “Ozymandias” is an ancient king who shared
this common desire, but not in a common way. He not only wanted to leave
behind a record of himself for future generations, he wanted his memory
exalted above that of others, and even above the “Mighty” who would live
after him. He did not want to give up at death the power he had wielded
in life.
The irony in this poem lies in the difference between what
Ozymandias intends — to hold onto the glory of his works after time takes
its course with him — and what actually happens. This great monuments
“frown, / And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command” and the inscription
on the pedestal are all meant to inspire fear in the viewer. However,
natural weathering and (possibly) destruction due to conquest have
dismembered this image of the king and rid him of the awe-inspiring
ability he once possessed.
Rhyme plays an elusive part in “Ozymandias,” which, when one looks
closer, emphasizes certain aspects of the king. While rhyme is present,
no recognizable rhyme scheme is used. The pattern is as follows (with “/”
representing a slant rhyme): a b a /b a c d c e d /e f /e f (the second
“/e” is a slant of “e,” not of the first “/e”). This “boundless” style
seems to represent the way Ozymandias saw himself — as one in complete
control, bowing to no one. As this rhyme scheme does not rely on
preconceived forms, neither does the “king of kings” believe he will have
to capitulate to any other power (including time). The seemingly
scattered rhymes, not even consistent in pattern within the poem, could
also represent the toppled pieces of the ancient sculpture lying about in
disarray.
The name “OzymandiasУ refers to Ramses II (Ramses the Great),
third king of the 19th dynasty of Egypt. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek
historian in the 1st century BC, recorded the name when he made reference
to the Ramesseum — Ramses IIs mortuary temple — as “the Tomb of
Ozymandias.” “Ozymandias” is actually a flawed spelling of the first part
of Ramses name. This tie between Shelleys