Ozymandias poem stanza explanation

Now here is the explanation of the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The students who asked me to explain this poem now can see the following explanation of stanza 1 and stanza 2 of the poem.

Tip: This poem is not important for an explanation from the exams point of view 2020. Anyhow, the stanza 2 may come in the paper. Stanza 1 is not important for the 2020 exams.

Ozymandias Poem Explanation

As you all know, the reference and the context may be the same for all the stanzas of the poem, so I have given it for one time only. You can write the same reference and the context for stanza 1 and stanza 2.

Reference: 

These lines have been taken from the poem Ozymandias written by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Context:

The poet has beautifully linked to pride and the wrecked reality of life with an event. When a man gets power, he becomes proud, merciless and cruel. He enjoys the luxuries of life and forgets his end. The poet has conveyed the idea that the feelings of superiority in a man are only self-deception. The reality is death.

Stanza 1

I met a traveler from an ....... the heart that fed:

Explanation:

In these lines, the poet tells that he met a traveler from an old and deserted land. The traveler told him that he saw two big legs standing in the desert. The two huge legs, which were made of stone, were standing without the upper part of the body. The other part of the statue lay nearby. The arms and the face were broken and it was in a miserable condition. It was half sunk into the sand. The sand and dust covered the body. Yet the signs of displeasure and expressions of ruthlessness and pride could be noticed on the face of the sculpture.

The poet says that the skillful hands of the sculptor had left the accurate expression of the man into his sculptor. The expression of aggression, power, and pride was even obvious on the lifeless body of the King. The poet has tried to explain that immorality has a permanent impression on our body as well as on our soul. So, it cannot be erased even we pass away.

Stanza 2

And on the pedestal ...... stretch far away

Explanation:

In these lines, the poet has described what we can call the message of the poem. As the traveler continues to describe what he saw in the desert, he says that there were some texts written in the base of the statue. It read as
My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
The texts tell that the name of the king was Ozymandias. He was the most powerful king. He ordered the kings to see his statue and feel belittled. But the tragedy is that now nothing remains except a lifeless statue of the king. The huge statue itself tells about the glory of the king. But now this huge and splendid statue has fallen the victim of nature. 

The broken pieces of the statue are being vanished in the sand. The sand is stretching far away and the statue of King Ozymandias is getting a thick layer of sand on it. It cannot be seen anywhere. 
You may like:
Previous Post Next Post