Question

Explain the last two lines of the poem Ozymandias with the reference to the ravages of time in the poem

Answer 1

Ozymandias’ by P. B. Shelly is a poem of 14 lines which is called a sonnet. It describes the remainders of the Egyptian king Ramses II. The poet describes a meeting with someone who had travelled to a place where ancient civilisation once existed. We know from the title that he is talking about Egypt. The traveler told the poet a story about an old, broken statue in the middle of the desert. The narrator comments that this sculpture was once a symbol of pride and greatness, but now, it is no more than broken stone. The narrator, then, goes on to describe the features of the statue’s face whose ‘frown and wrinkled lips…’ give the impression that the subject was a cold, unforgiving man. Ozymandias considered himself to be the ‘king of kings’ in the same rank as the Gods, he demanded respect from the Gods even. But now ironically, the sculptor’s hand ‘mocked’ him. However, his ‘passions’ have long become ‘lifeless’, and he himself, lies forgotten and licking the sand. He uses negative symbols to describe the statue of Ozymandias —trunkless, sunk and shattered to convey this mood. The statue was broken apart, but you can still make out the face of the person whose statue it was. The face looks powerful, like a ruler. The sculptor, maker of the statue did a good job at expressing the ruler’s personality and his hate for others. On the pedestal near the face, the traveller read an inscription in which the ruler Ozymandias tells that anyone who might pass by, ‘Look around and see how mighty I am!’ But there is no other evidence of his strength in the nearby of his giant and broken statue. There is just a lot of sand, as far as the eyes can see. The conclusion is nothing beside remains.