Analysis of Ozymandias: Power, Decay, and Hubris
Q1. What is ironic about the inscription on the pedestal of Ozymandias’s statue?
Ans: The inscription on the pedestal of Ozymandias statue says ‘I am Ozymandias, the king of kings, look on my works, ye mighty and despair.’ This suggests that the king was very boastful, vain, and arrogant. He thought that his kingdom would remain forever. But his kingdom was nowhere to be seen, and even his own statue was in a dilapidated state. He failed to realize that life is ephemeral.
Q2. Who was Ozymandias?
Ans: Ozymandias was a powerful king of Egypt. He was proud and arrogant. He claimed himself to be the king of kings. Ozymandias lived with the belief that other mighty rulers would not be able to attain his greatness.
Q3. What quality of Ozymandias does the narrator represent?
Ans: The poem reflects upon the king’s grand delusions of his own power and might which he thought could be immortalized in stone. However, it proved to be only wishful thinking because all that remained of that statue was a colossal wreck.
Q4. How does the poet describe the expression on Ozymandias’s face?
Ans: The face of ‘Ozymandias’ statue was shattered. The sculptor was such a skillful artist that the expressions on his face were still very clear. They showed frown and hostility on the face of the statue which revealed that he looked down upon others and was an arrogant and boastful king.
Q5. What is the only thing remaining in the vast desert?
Ans: In the expansive desert, only silence persists, stretching endlessly across the barren landscape, a testament to solitude and stillness, where the sands whisper secrets and time stands still amid the vastness of the desolate expanse.
Q6. How does the poet describe the expression on Ozymandias’s face?
Ans: The poet portrays the expression on Ozymandias’s face as a ‘sneer of cold command,’ implying arrogance and disdain. This expression contrasts with the desolation around the shattered statue, conveying the fleeting nature of power and the inevitable decay of empires, emphasizing the insignificance of even the mightiest rulers in the face of time’s relentless march and the ultimate fate of oblivion.
Q7. What quality of Ozymandias does the narrator represent?
Ans: The narrator represents the quality of hubris in Ozymandias, emphasizing the arrogance and pride of the ruler through the depiction of the shattered statue and the inscription boasting of his power and dominion over the world.
Q1. Write a brief note on the theme of ‘transience of power’ as discussed in the poem?
Ans: ‘Ozymandias’ is one of the most renowned poetic works in literature. The poem was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1818 and published in the 11th edition of The Examiner on January 11, 1819. ‘Ozymandias’ is considered one of the most renowned examples of English Romanticism. The poem is also considered one of the most renowned political poems. ‘Ozymandias’ is an ideal example of the transience of power. Ozymandias was once a mighty ruler, but all that remains of him now are ruins. The poem serves as a reminder that all things will eventually come to an end, no matter how great or powerful they may seem. Ozymandias is a reminder that time will always march on and that change is inevitable.
Ans: ‘Ozymandias’ is a poetic work that is still relevant today. The poem speaks to the universal truths of the transience of power and the inevitability of change. The poem is a reminder that no matter how great or powerful someone may seem they will eventually be forgotten and their empire will crumble. ‘Ozymandias’ is a timeless work that reminds us of the fragility of our existence and the fleeting nature of power.
Q2. Bring out the central idea contained in the poem ‘Ozymandias of Egypt’ by P.B. Shelley?
Ans: The central idea of the poem ‘Ozymandias’ written by Percy Shelley is the inevitable decline of all leaders and the empires they build. The poem is a reflection on the transience of power and the ultimate futility of human ambition. It uses the imagery of a shattered statue of the ancient Egyptian ruler Ozymandias to convey the message that even the most powerful and mighty leaders will eventually be forgotten and their works will crumble to dust. The poem serves as a reminder that all things are temporary and that we should not become too attached to our accomplishments.
Q3. Identify the figures of speech in the poem?
Ans: Although ‘figures of speech’ can be considered broadly to include both poetic (sound) techniques as well as non-literal language, this answer is restricted to figures of speech that are non-literal language.
Ans: There are two instances of synecdoche in the poem. With synecdoche, a writer uses a part of the thing to represent the whole. Thus ‘the hand that mocked them and the heart that fed’ uses two parts of the king, his hand and his heart, to represent him.
Ans: The use of the word ‘antique’ in line 1 could be considered hyperbole. Hyperbole is an exaggeration for effect. The word ‘antique’ can mean ‘something belonging to ancient times.’ In literal terms, a land cannot belong to ancient times. If the land exists in the present, it ‘belongs’ in the present, so to call a land ‘antique’ is an exaggeration, but it conveys the idea that the land was more important in ancient days.
Ans: The idea that the ‘shattered visage’ is able to ‘tell’ about the sculptor is personification, which imparts human characteristics to inanimate objects. The visage is unable to communicate with words, so it literally cannot ‘tell’ anything. The word ‘tell’ is also a pun, or a play on words. Although the statue cannot ‘tell’ the viewer anything, the viewer can ‘tell’ from the statue certain things about the king. This is a different meaning of ‘tell,’ meaning to determine, but is suggested by the way in which it is used here.
Q4. ‘I met a traveler from an antique land, Who said-Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert….Near them, on the stand on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command’?
Ans: The excerpt is from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias.’ It portrays a conversation between the narrator and a traveler describing a vast, ruined statue in the desert. The traveler recounts encountering two immense, legless stone legs and a shattered visage, highlighting Ozymandias’s former grandeur now reduced to decay. The description of the ‘frown,’ ‘wrinkled lip,’ and ‘sneer of cold command’ on the statue’s face symbolizes the ruler’s arrogance and hubris, contrasting with the desolate surroundings. Through this imagery, Shelley reflects on the transient nature of power, suggesting that even the mightiest empires are ultimately subject to the relentless passage of time and inevitable decline.