Answer the following questions.
Who did the narrator meet? What did he tell the narrator? In Ozymandias chapter
Answers
Answer:
About the Poet
Shelley is one of the major poets of the Romantic Age in English literature. He had highly radical, social and political views which were against the existing norms of his time. His poetry uses powerful symbolism and imagery; it also reflects the themes of love, liberty and nature. He died in a drowning incident at the age of 30, in Italy.
Brief Summary of the Poem
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
‘Ozymandias’ is one of the best known sonnets in English literature. It describes the ruined statue of a powerful king, lying in a state of neglect in the desert. The poet meets a traveller from Egypt, who describes the statue. There’s nothing remaining of the statue apart from its wreck. The pieces are scattered on the desert sand. Ozymandias was a tyrannical ruler and proud of his power. The poem drives home the message that power and pride cannot beat time. Work of art endures and stands the test of time.
Line wise Analysis:
Line1:
The poet met a traveller from Egypt, referred as “an antique land”. The poem begins in the first person with the use of the personal pronoun ‘I’. The first person narrative stops with the first line. The remaining thirteen lines are described by the mysterious traveller.
Line 2:
The traveller starts describing a broken statue, he saw in the desert. It was of King Ramesses II, known as Ozymandias in Greek. He was a great and powerful Pharaoh; a military conqueror and a master builder. He was also a tyrant and was the ruler of Egypt, when Moses led the Israelites out of captivity.
The traveller saw two huge legs, made of stone. There was no torso and hence it is called “trunkless “.
Line 3:
The legs stood in the desert. The word ‘desert’ also implies isolation and loneliness. There was something else on the sand near the two huge legs.
Line 4:
Near the legs on the sand, half buried in it was a shattered face. The face had an unpleasant frowning expression on it.
Line 5:
“Wrinkled lip” implies a disdainful attitude, showing contempt. “Sneer of cold command “ means Ozymandias was arrogant and excessively proud of himself. He wanted everyone to fawn and obey his orders.
It was of king Ramesses 11 known as ozmandias in Greek. he was a great and poweful pharaoh am military conqueror and amasterr builder He was also a tyrant and was the ruler of Eggpt when Moses led lasraeliters out of captivity .The traveller saw tw huge legs made of stone