Ozymandias By Shelley

Question 1

What is the author called?

Answer 1

Shelley

Question 2

What is this poem about?

Answer 2

-the narrator meets a traveller who tells him about a statue standing in the middle of the dessert
-statue of a king who ruled in a past civilisation
-inscription on the base of the statue shows how boastful he is about his power
-statue crumbled away, leaving only ruins

Question 3

What are the main themes?

Answer 3

Human power, pride, power of nature and life represented in art

Question 4

What is are the quotes that are very ironic?

Answer 4

‘king of kings’, ‘look on my works’

-ruler was incredibly boastful + narcissistic
-temporary as time and nature have destroyed his memory

Question 5

What is the quote that is an example of alliteration?

Answer 5

‘Sneer of cold command’

-alliteration of harsh ‘ck’ sounds mimics the despotic ruler who was heartless + arrogant

-imperative ‘command’
indicated how he was tyrannical and didn’t give people autonomy

Question 6

What are the quotes that are a semantic field of destruction?

Answer 6

‘colossal wreck’
‘Nothing’
‘decay’
‘shattered’

-no longer commemorated or celebrated as his monument and memory have been obliterated

-verbs ‘decay’ and ‘shattered’

-statue has been neglected as Shelley criticises how how hubris will result in lost memory

Question 7

What form is the poem written in?

Answer 7

sonnet form- 14 lined poem
-romantic poem highlights how much love the king had for himself
-lack of regular rhyme scheme mirrors that lack of power and control the ruler believed he had

Question 8

What is the poem written in?

Answer 8

frame narrative
-‘I met a traveller’
story within a story highlighting how the narrator hasn’t seen the story
-distance between the leader’s memory and the present
-shows how unimportant and distant Ozymandias is

Question 9

Poems to compare to?

Answer 9

My last duchess (human power + pride)
Prelude, Exposure , storm on the island (nature)
London (abuse of power)