Who is ozymandias a symbol of

Ozymandias Poem Text. Ozymandias Theme of Art and Culture. Ozymandias Summary. Login to rate this Glog. Login to comment on this Glog. By Percy Bysshe Shelley Annotations: Paraphrase-A traveller from an antique land tells the speaker that a sculptor two vast legs of stone. Rate It! Tags egypt. Comments Login to comment on this Glog. There are no comments for this Glog. England in Ode to the West Wind. To a Skylark.

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Sign Up. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Everyone tries to be powerful, some even start wars over it, however, in the end, it never lasts. The poem describes the statue of Ozymandias, or what is left of it. This powerful sight now lay in ruins showing anyone who goes to see it that power does not last.

The use of imagery in the poem reveals the transience of power. Ozymandias had this statue created in his image to showcase his power. These lines describe him as both a cruel and loving ruler, however, as Shelley writes he is also now lifeless. Furthermore, a lifeless thing is also powerless, therefore, Ozymandias is powerless.

Ozymandias erected this great statue so everyone could witness his power forever, however, with time that power has been lost. The story Shelley presents of Ozymandias is ironic because he thought his legacy would conquer all time and people would remember the powerful man he was, contrary to his belief though, his power has been lost and his statue has wasted away.

Ozymandias is commanding all who go to see the statue and look to see what he has created, however, nothing besides his fragmented statue remains. Ozymandias wanted everyone to be impressed by all he had done and how powerful he was, yet all he has to show for it is the broken ruin.

His power has not lasted, but depleted leaving all he had in ruins, or gone. Shelley is talking about how over time the sand has come and buried half the statue. The sand then, can be discussed as the great equalizer.

Instead of allowing Ozymandias to stay all powerful the sand has come through and taken away that power, but burying his statue, making his no better than anyone else. But statues and sculpture aren't all bad in this poem; they are also a vehicle for the poet to explore questions about the longevity of art, and its ability to capture "passions" 6 in a "lifeless" 7 medium like stones or painting or even poetry.

The statue that inspired the poem was partially destroyed, and the poem frequently reminds us that the statue is in ruins. The dilapidated state of the statue symbolizes not only the erosive processes of time, but also the transience of political leaders and regimes. There is a lot of death in this poem; the figure represented in the statue is dead, along with the civilization to which he belonged. The statue is destroyed, and so it too is, in some sense, dead.

And yet amidst all the death, there are several images of life that give the poem a sense of balance, however slight. While most of the poem describes a statue, the traveler makes a point of telling us that Ozymandias's "passions" still survive: they are "stamp'd" on the statue, giving all those who view the statue a sense of what Ozymandias's disposition was like, or at least what it was like when the statue was made.

Parents Home Homeschool College Resources. Study Guide. By Percy Bysshe Shelley. Previous Next. Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay Welcome to the land of symbols, imagery, and wordplay.