The poem is a reminder of the impermanence of human achievement, and the ultimate futility of trying to achieve lasting greatness.Īnother theme of the poem is the contrast between the grandiose words of the inscription and the reality of the broken statue. Despite the pride and hubris of Ozymandias, his kingdom and works have crumbled and been forgotten, just like all the other empires and civilizations that have come and gone before him. One of the main themes of "Ozymandias" is the fleeting nature of human power and greatness.
Round the decay / Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare / The lone and level sands stretch far away." The poem ends with the lines: "Nothing beside remains. However, his power and works have now been reduced to nothing more than a broken statue in the desert, a mere shadow of his former greatness. The speaker of the poem reflects on the inscription and the ruined statue, and concludes that Ozymandias was once a powerful and mighty ruler. The traveler also tells the speaker of an inscription on the pedestal, which reads: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" The statue is of Ozymandias, and it is described as "two vast and trunkless legs of stone." The rest of the statue has crumbled and is lost to time, leaving only the legs standing. The poem begins by describing a traveler who tells the speaker of a broken statue he saw in the desert. The poem is a sonnet, a form of poetry that consists of 14 lines and a strict rhyme scheme. The title refers to the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, who was also known as Ozymandias. "Ozymandias" is a poem written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817.
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