Ozymandias Analysis
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Percy Shelley describes the speaker
being told by a traveler about an
archaic and weathered statue of King
Ozymandias that sits by its lonesome in
the middle of a desert. The story is told
about the once glorious and fearful
statue that is now diminished down to a
pile of rubble that is now concealed
from civilization in the sand from which
it was created from. King Ozymandias
tried to preserve his power and glory by
creating an abiding statue of himself,
but now it is just a pile of rubble that
few people know about and have little
concern about. It represents that after
death everyone is the same, only objects
to remember our glory is left behind.
Also it represents the history of
mankind by saying that no matter how
vast our civilization grows, we will
inevitably all die and be forgotten
about. There is no denying the fact that
everything will fall at one point in time
and the remnants of mankind’s greatest
empires will be overlooked and
forgotten about.
The only thing that is left
behind from all great men and
civilizations is not the people
themselves, but just the objects they
created or had created for them just so
the future peoples can remember their
greatest accomplishments. Shelley says
in his poem, “a shattered visage lies”
which describes the only thing left of
Ozymandias, a disintegrating statue that
lies in the desert surrounded by
emptiness. It is not only the statue that
is shattered, but yet the reputation and
glory of the Ozymandias and his
empire. The great king would be beyond
outraged and disappointed if he could
see how his only lasting impression on
the new world is holding up.
In a criticising essay by Jennifer
Bussey, she states that “Ozyamandias’s
legacy is actually not in his hands at all,
but solely in the hands of the sculptor”
which proclaims that everyone’s legacy
and reputation is
Percy Shelley describes the speaker
being told by a traveler about an
archaic and weathered statue of King
Ozymandias that sits by its lonesome in
the middle of a desert. The story is told
about the once glorious and fearful
statue that is now diminished down to a
pile of rubble that is now concealed
from civilization in the sand from which
it was created from. King Ozymandias
tried to preserve his power and glory by
creating an abiding statue of himself,
but now it is just a pile of rubble that
few people know about and have little
concern about. It represents that after
death everyone is the same, only objects
to remember our glory is left behind.
Also it represents the history of
mankind by saying that no matter how
vast our civilization grows, we will
inevitably all die and be forgotten
about. There is no denying the fact that
everything will fall at one point in time
and the remnants of mankind’s greatest
empires will be overlooked and
forgotten about.
The only thing that is left
behind from all great men and
civilizations is not the people
themselves, but just the objects they
created or had created for them just so
the future peoples can remember their
greatest accomplishments. Shelley says
in his poem, “a shattered visage lies”
which describes the only thing left of
Ozymandias, a disintegrating statue that
lies in the desert surrounded by
emptiness. It is not only the statue that
is shattered, but yet the reputation and
glory of the Ozymandias and his
empire. The great king would be beyond
outraged and disappointed if he could
see how his only lasting impression on
the new world is holding up.
In a criticising essay by Jennifer
Bussey, she states that “Ozyamandias’s
legacy is actually not in his hands at all,
but solely in the hands of the sculptor”
which proclaims that everyone’s legacy
and reputation is