Ozymandias (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature)

Ozymandias

The poetry anthologies for CIE IGCSE contain 15 poems. In Paper 1, you will be given a choice of two poetry exam questions. Each question will be based on one of the 15 poems in your anthology, and each of the two questions will feature the poem printed in full. You only have to answer one of these two questions. Because there are so many text options in this IGCSE, it is really important that you read through the exam instructions carefully, and make sure you have selected the correct questions and poems according to what you have studied. Fifteen poems is a lot to revise. However, understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:

• The meaning of the poem

• The ideas and messages the poet wanted to convey

• How the poet conveys these ideas and messages through their methods

• The different possible interpretations of the poem

Below is a guide to Percy Shelley’s poem Ozymandias, from the Songs of Ourselves Volume 1, Part 4 anthology. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations

• Writer’s Methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods

Understanding the text: an exploration of characters, relationships, situations and themes, with relevant background information

Overview

In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell

• A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section

• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Shelley’s intention and message

Ozymandias in a nutshell

Ozymandias was written by the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817. It explores the idea that all power is temporary, no matter how powerful or tyrannical the ruler, and that ultimately nature is more powerful than any human power.

Ozymandias breakdown

Lines 1-2

“I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said -”

Translation

• The poem begins in the first person, but then instantly passes any responsibility for the opinions within the poem on to a stranger

• The narrator meets an unnamed traveller, and the poem is then recounted from the stranger’s perspective

Shelley’s intention

• Shelley was anti-monarchy and felt that the king at the time of writing, King George III, had outstayed his welcome

• Shelley probably wanted to distance himself from the political messages of the poem, so he opened his poem with the detached narrative of a traveller

• Shelley also used Ozymandias as an allegory for King George III:

  • The detached narrator meant that Shelley was free to comment on the monarchy as he wished, because the views were being presented as the views of someone else

Lines 2-5

“-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,”

Translation

• The traveller then tells of a ruined statue standing in the middle of the desert

• The statue is of a king, Ramesses II, also known as Ozymandias, who ruled over a once-great Egyptian civilisation

• Only the legs and the enormous face (the “visage”) remain

• The traveller only describes the mouth, with a “frown”, “wrinkled lip” and “sneer of cold command”

Shelley’s intention

• Shelley is commenting that all that remains of this great and powerful ruler are legs and a “shattered” visage, which creates a sense of irony:

  • This is ironic because Ozymandias’s power and pride were based on his image of being a great and powerful ruler, and yet now all that remains are broken parts of a statue

• The poem portrays a king who believed strongly in his own power and superiority, and who tried to immortalise his power through his statue

• The “frown”, “wrinkled lip” and “sneer” of cold command suggest the cruelty and heartlessness of the ruler, who was arrogant and had nothing but contempt for his subjects:

  • This is reflective of Shelley’s own anti-military and anti-monarchy stance

• Yet this statue has now been destroyed by time, and the king largely forgotten

Lines 6-8

“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;”

Translation

• The reader then learns of the sculptor, who “well those passions read”, meaning that he could see beneath Ozymandias’s cold, commanding exterior to his passionate rage to “stamp” himself on the world

• When the poet refers to “The hand that mocked them”, he is implying that the sculptor knew Ozymandias’s true and ultimately futile nature

• The sculptor created the statue in a way that portrayed the cruelty of the king

Shelley’s intention

• The poem presents negative views about power used to impose individual will

• It also comments on the arrogance and pride that can come from the type of tyrannical power in which the ruler wishes only to be known for his perceived greatness

Lines 9-11

“And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

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

Translation

• There is an inscription on the base of the statue, with the arrogant claim that he is “King of Kings”

• The inscription invites everyone, especially his “Mighty” enemies, to look at what he has achieved as a ruler, and to know that he believes that he is all powerful and cannot be defeated

Shelley’s intention

• The irony here is that the statue is falling apart and decaying, so that only the ruins remain

• The poet is showing how power deteriorates and does not last forever:

  • Even great empires which seem to be eternal can fade to nothingness

Lines 12-14

“Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Translation

• The ruins of the enormous statue lie alone in an endless, featureless desert

Shelley’s intention

• The power of the natural world is also evident in this poem

• Sand and the desert are used as a metaphor for the passing of time:

They also suggest the impermanence of human constructions against the ultimate power of nature

Writer’s Methods

Although this section is organised into three separate sections - form, structure and language - it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have. 

Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Shelley’s intentions behind his choices in terms of:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

The poem is written in the form of a 14-line sonnet, which blends both Petrarchan and Shakespearean forms, in order to comment on human power and pride.

Structure

Shelley uses the structure of Ozymandias to comment on the temporary nature of all human power when compared to the power of God or nature.

Language

Shelley uses his choice of techniques and language to compare the ultimately futile nature of human power on the one hand with the overwhelming and everlasting power of nature on the other.

Understanding the text

All questions in the IGCSE encourage an informed, personal response, which means that it is not enough just to know the poem itself really well; you also need to develop a sound understanding of the themes, main ideas, settings, situations and events depicted. While context is not explicitly assessed in the IGCSE, an awareness of background information as relevant to the main themes in the poem can help you to develop a sustained, critical understanding of the text, so that you are able to demonstrate individuality and insight in your answer. Therefore, this section has been divided into two main themes that Shelley explores in Ozymandias:

• The Nature of Human Power

• The Power of Nature

The Nature of Human Power

• Shelley was a radical Romantic poet, who was strongly anti-monarchy, a pacifist and someone who supported social justice

• He rejected institutions of power, and his poetry was used to spread messages and political ideas which needed to be accessible to all:

  • Shelley wrote Ozymandias to comment on the temporary and ultimately futile nature of human power

  • He was also against the monarchy and institutions that represented power and authority

• There are several historical references in the poem:

  • The first is to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, who used the throne name Ozymandias:

    • Ramesses II thought himself to be a very powerful ruler, and is remembered for his tyranny and military exploits, as well as having a large empire over Egypt

  • King George III was also an influence in this poem, as he was king of England at the time of writing:

    • He engaged in military conflicts and was remembered for oppression and tyranny

    • Many believed he had outstayed his welcome

  • Shelley was a pacifist and positioned himself against George’s military exploits:

    • This is reflected in the “sneer of cold command” that initiates military actions

• The poem also touches on how human power, by its nature, can corrupt and ultimately doesn’t last:

  • The decay of the statue reflects how exploits which are impressive, but not morally good, will be criticised and forgotten about after they end

• Overall, the poet is criticising power, arrogance and pride, as represented by Ozymandias:

  • It mocks rulers past, present and future for thinking they will be any different from rulers that have gone before

• Shelley was also perhaps criticising systems in which any one individual is given so much power that, despite their abuse of it, the population are unable to remove them 

• He is also criticising all power being centred on a person who obtains their importance from an image, and perceived divine right to power

• The poem also explores the conflict between humans and memory, as Ozymandias was largely forgotten, even though he thought his memory would last forever

• The poem also touches on the lasting power of art and words:

  • Many people may not have remembered Ozymandias, but part of the statue remained, as well as the words placed on the inscription

The Power of Nature 

• Certain key themes dominated the poetry of the Romantic era, such as the concept of the sublime:

  • This term conveys the feelings people experience when they see awesome landscapes, or find themselves in extreme situations which create feelings of both fear and admiration

• By describing the desert as “boundless and bare” and “lone and level”, Shelley communicates the vast, powerful extent of nature:

  • He also comments on nature’s ability to outlive all other forms of power (and deem them insignificant by comparison)

  • The “boundless” desert easily outlives the now-forgotten king Ozymandias