OZYMANDIAS
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Educated at Eton and then sent to Oxford
Came under the influence of English Philosopher. William Godwin
In 1818, left for Italy
Drowned in the Bay of Spezia in 1822
13th c BC Egyptian King, Ramses II,
Greeks called ‘Ozymandias’
Identify the speakers of the lines taken from the poem given below
ANSWERS
I met a traveller from
an antique land
_____________
?
Two vast and trunkless
legs of stone
My name is Ozymandias
king of kings
_____________
?
?
___________
Answers:
a) The Narrator
b) The Traveller
c) Ozymandias
Literary Device used in the poem
Alliteration
‘cold command’ (line 5)
‘boundless and bare’ (line 13)
‘lone and level’ (line 14)
‘sands stretch’ (line 14)
Alliteration
Repetition of initial sounds in two
adjacent words in a line of a poem
Shelley’s Sonnet
Follows the traditional structure – 14 line Italian sonnet
an opening octave (8 lines) – presents a conflict or dilemma
a sestet (6lines) – offers some resolution
Octave rhyme scheme – ababbbcb
Sestet rhyme scheme - abacbc
Sonnet
A poem that has 14 lines, each containing 10 syllables,
and a fixed pattern of rhyme
MCQs
1. Ozymandias got his huge statue erected
a)
b)
c)
d)
To be seen by the posterity for being mighty and powerful
He had great love for art
People will remember him for his nobility
He wanted to convey the message that life is momentary
2. The poem highlights the nature of Ozymandias. That he was
a)
b)
c)
d)
cruel
humble
arrogant
aggressive
3. The sculptor who built the statue of Ozymandias could better
understand his
a)
b)
c)
d)
feelings
words
expression
ambition
4. The backdrop of the poem is
a)
b)
c)
d)
palace
mountain
desert
wilderness
Answers:
1. to be seen by the posterity for being mighty and powerful
2. aggressive
3. feelings
4. desert