Ozymandias Flashcards
Form
A sonnet but doesn’t follow a regular sonnet rhyme scheme
Why does Shelley not use a regular rhyme scheme
To reflect how human power and its structures can be destroyed
What perspective is Ozymandias written in
First person however the speaker is never revealed showing his omnipotentence
What’s the purpose of Ozymandias
Show how power deteriorates and does not last forever
Who was Percy Shelley
Radical, romantic poet who was anti-monarchy and a pacifist 
Shelley wanted to end the oppression of ordinary people
What’s the purpose of Shelly writing in a sonnet form
The blend of patriarchal and Shakespearean sonnet demonstrates how all power is subject to evolution
What phrase does a poem begin with
‘I met a traveller’
What’s the purpose of Shelley beginning with ‘I met a traveller’
It created a detached narrative of a traveller to distance himself from the political messages of the poem
What rhyme scheme does Shelley use
Irregular rhyme scheme which contrasts the single stanza to show the lack of power of the ruler
Analyse ‘cold command’
- Consonance is used to reflect a callous lack of compassion the king has for the his subjects
- The ‘c’ sound bleeds through the readers perception of the king showing his aggression
- Shelley does this to disapprove of military campaigns
Analyse ‘look on my works’
Dramatic irony is used as the king expects his kingdom to survive however the reader knows that it has decayed
Analyse ‘sands stretch far away’
The desert is forced and survives for longer than the broken statue emphasising the insignificance of the statue and ozymandias
What poems would you compare Ozymandias with
The prelude, my last Duchess, tissue
