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
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 collossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Notes
Published by Hunt in The Examiner, January, 1818. Reprinted with Rosalind and Helen, 1819. There is a copy amongst the Shelley MSS. at the Bodleian Library.
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Comments
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I believe the quality of a great poem is that inspires many more from it. It encompasses universal human psyche across time and space and its appeal never fades.
This is both philosophical and matter-of-fact condensation into a capsule that only a deep rooted conviction coupled with capabilities can cahieve. With Shelly, these two are undisputable.
The Romance of speaking the truth by comparison is excelled in this poem. -
I can't read this without laughing; there was a parody of this poem on Monty Python's Flying Circus (fourth season, methinks), and it was, in Graham Chapman's words, "all about ants."
But this version is fabulous, too. -
Been a long time since I read this - since high school days which goes back a long ways. Nice to read this again; anad to read comments given as well.
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A classic sonnet. "Ozymandias" is the Pharaoh Ramesses II
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critical analysis
From guest sidrah (contact)
shelley was an atheist and hence should nt be called a romantist because appreciating nature also inlcudes acknowledging the maker of it all. he was a skeptical personal having no clues in life and led a very miserable life because of his odd thoughts. his writings are good but then when you come across what he really was.. it shatters up his whole image and hence destroys the true essence of being a poet and a hope to his readers. -
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I am afraid it amounts to appropriating to ourselves the rights of others. Appreciating nature is the birth right of all beings that respond to the impulses of nature. It is romantic to think that a cuckoo sings in the spring ( Indian) after eating the off-shooting mango-leaves. Do you say that it praises God? If the peacock dances at the hovering black clouds about to empty their load on earth, do you say that it praises God? I don't deny that it would be so satisfying and romantic to think about that. But, without knowing what it is, can we say that it is praising only God? let us suppose for the sake of argument, it is an atheist, do you deny it the right to dance at the spectacle of hovering black clouds that delight its heart and it involuntarily dabnces in delight. Is it an in alienable ruling that all natural overs are de facto theists even if they proclaim ootherwise. can we say that they are not in their elements when they say they are atheists and we are right in branding them?
It is a mistaken view that "it shatters up his whole image and hence destroys the true essence of being a poet and a hope to readers". This is being very unfair to a dead soul which can not answer. Let us remember that all interpretations of poetry ... however good they be... fall short of the real meaning and intentions of the poet. What we do is regale in our abilities to classify people and poetry... but as human beings we have absolutely no right to rule them to the contrary to what they claim they are. Let us enjoy what is handed over to us. The merits or demerits of the individual poet are not going to diminish the essence of what he had handed over to us. Yes, it is true, that we may say how true or hypocrytical he was.
All said and done, truth is always beyond our grasp. let us not disgrace a famished soul that might not have found answers in its life. More so, in a time when superstition and ignorance ruled the roost and knowledge was making desperate attempts to open new vistas in every field ... from philosophy, politics, science, adventure, fiction and what not.
Regarding the comments " he was a skeptical person having no clues in life and led a miserable life"... Do we have all the answers even today? Are we not miserable? (unless we hide ourselves in our own snail-shells of ignorance.)
I pray let us not condemn an individual... or his poetry. Poetry is an attempt to reinvent their poersona for all serious poets... more so for the poets of epoch making Romantic movement.
no hurt or harshness is intended in this answer. If at any place it sounds so, I offer my unconditional apologies. The intention is only to make my point clear but no disrespect for the views expressed.
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How the mighty are fallen. Ozymandias reminds us that the greatest achievements of man fall to dust in time. Very few things last for ever and man didn't produce any of them.
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Ozymandis
From guest nuggehalli Pankaja (contact)
This seems to be the message of a once proud-arrogant spirit, that itis not lasting, and touches on the ephemereal quality of life -
This sonnet is one that I teach often. It is timeless in its message; the images are rich, the language is direct and the moral just makes sense. Some of my students love the irony of the poem; others have decided to do independ. reseach either on Shelley's other works, or about Egypt. I find many students end up enjoying the inclusion of poetry when the message ties in with current issues.
I wish I was at the Bodleian Library so that I could just touch the copy among the Shelley collection! -
The greatest of humankind's achievements are nothing more than a footnote in the grand scheme of God's creation.
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I've always liked this poem and I love the way it's a frame within a frame within a frame of the speaker. it's sad and lonesome - but satisfies also a little vengeful part in me.
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great poem.... one of the first I have ever memorized .... learnt it when we were doing Ancient Egyptian history....love how it ends so dismally...wonderful irregular sonnet...he does it very well
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I love Shelley.
Thanks for putting him here. -
I think you nailed this one Peacelink! I always think of this poem when some petty tyrant or warlike president is spouting fire… The one thing they will not understand, they are writings left in low tide sands… so will you leave a legacy of love or leave a legacy of blood?
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This was an interesting and perplexing and metaphor laiden story. I had to read back a few times to take it in fully, yet it all dawned on me. Its kinda sad, really, even with his inflected arrogance. It typified for me the added concept that the world remains after we have left it, even if nothing of ourselves does. Which adds sadness and hard reality to the piece. Literary wise, it has an interesting flow to it, like a tale told verbally. Which I believe is the point, but you have managed to achieve it here, which is difficult.
Thankyou for sharing.
Nate. -
Ozymandias seems to be the personification of arrogance, of man's belief in his own might, man's short sightedness in not accepting that he is but a visitor here that all he does is like writing in the sand to be washed away by the waves of time, that neither his achievements will survive nor his might. Everything will pass away, the only permanent feature of everything on earth seems to be temporariness. Change is inevitable.
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