Ozymandia Notes – Percy Bysshe Shelley – CBSE Class 10 English Literature
The poem is woven around the foolish pride of a conceited King Ozymandias. This famous and remarkable sonnet is written by the sublime poet PB Shelley. In the sonnet, a traveller met the and told him about the statue of Ozymandias, a mighty king. This poem reveals the truth
that the power of arrogant people fails to perpetuate their name and fame. The power of time is so powerful that it wipes their names from
the face of Earth. Time weathers the monuments Of the mightiest kings into sand. Nothing else is left behind the vast sea Of Band i. e. , desert.
Stanzawise Explanation of the Poem
I. I met a traveler …. …..whose frown,
Here, the poet says that a traveller from an ancient land met him. He told the poet that there was a statue there that was huge in size. The statue was in a very condition. It was without the upper body. He told that only two legs of stone without the body were standing in the desert, the face Of the status was lying away from it, half sunk in sand.
II And wrinkled lip… .. the heart that fed;
Further, the traveller tells that the sculptor of this statue knew all the qualities Of the king deeply. Actually, the sculptor mocked Ozymandias. The twitched lip in the face brings out the pride and sneer Of Ozymandias. The king was power drunk, cruel and inhuman with a dictatorial attitude. The Says that the king had died but his facial expression still survived on the sculpted face.
III. And on the….. . ..stretch far away,
The traveller also informs that the pedestal is engraved with an inscription on the base Of statue saying “My name is Ozymandias, king Of kings”. These words show the pride and haughtiness Of the king. The king says that achievements and exploits are incomparable in the world. The king was proud of them. NOW, none Of Ozymandias’s works can be seen in the vacinity Of the statue. Due to weathering over time, nothing else is left behind Of Ozymandias except the boundless sand spread all around the broken statue.