Search by Poem or Poet About Us Newsletters SUBSCRIBE

P O E T RY FO U N DAT I O N
POEMS & POETS HARRIET ARTICLES VIDEO PODCASTS LEARN EVENTS POETRY MAGAZINE

Ozymandias

MORE ABOUT THIS POEM

Ozymandias
BY PERCY BYSSH E SH ELLE Y HisKingdom BY P E RC Y BYSS H E SH E LL EY

foll lmao
T H I S P O E M H AS A
POEM GUIDE LEARN
I met a traveller from an antique land,
View Poem Guide
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone This poem has learning resources.
will

I
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Everything
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
so
fall be gotten
View Resources

111gut Royalty
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
D
ABOUT THIS POET
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; 1 I
14
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
trumpets
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Mefford sneering
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare cytokine
The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Pompousrich
annoying The life and works of Percy Bysshe
Shelley exemplify English
Romanticism in both its extremes
Source: Shelley’s Poetry and Prose (1977)
of joyous ecstasy and brooding
despair. Romanticism’s major
themes—restlessness and brooding,
rebellion against authority,
interchange with nature, the power
of the visionary imagination and of

49in
poetry, the pursuit of ideal...

Read Full Biography

Related Learning Resources

MORE ABOUT THIS POET

Region: ENGLAND

CO L L E C T I O N CO L L E C T I O N POEM GUIDE
School/Period: ROMANTIC
Common Core State British Romanticism Emma Lazarus: “The New
Standards Text Exemplars BY THE EDI TORS Colossus”
Quick Tags
BY THE ED ITO RS An introduction to the poetic revolution BY AUST IN ALLE N

Poems to integrate into your English that brought common people to literature’s A sonnet stands tall where the ungoverned LIVING

Language Arts classroom. highest peaks. waters of literature meet the strict land of
TIME & BREVITY ACTIVITIES
law.
TRAVELS & JOURNEYS

Read More Read More Read More

AUDIO Play Episode

Ozymandias
FR OM AUDIO POEM O F THE DAY | J u ly 2022

By Percy Bysshe Shelley (read by Michael

Stuhlbarg)

Read More

M O R E P O E MS BY P E R C Y BYSS H E S H E L L E Y

Adonais: An Elegy Alastor; or, The The Waning Moon Art thou pale for Archy's Song from
on the Death of Spirit of Solitude BY PERCY BYSSHE SH ELLEY weariness Charles I (A Widow
John Keats BY P ER C Y BYSSHE S HEL LEY BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Bird Sate Mourn-
BY PERCY BYSSHE SH EL L EY ing)
BY P ER CY BYSSH E SH EL LEY

See All Poems by this Author

POEMS POETS ARTICLES VIDEO PODCASTS LEARN EVENTS POETRY ABOUT US

All Poems All Poets Essays All Video All Podcasts Children All Past Events MAGAZINE Give
Poem Guides Interviews Audio Poem of Teens Exhibitions Current Issue Visit
the Day Poetry Magazine
Audio Poems Profiles Adults Library
Archive
Collections All Articles Educators Foundation
Subscriptions News
Glossary of
Poetic Terms About the Awards & Grants
Magazine
Poetry Out Loud Media
How to Submit Partnerships
Advertise with Us People
Press Releases
Contact Us
Jobs

Poetry Foundation Children Poetry Magazine

CONTACT US NEWSLETTERS PRESS PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE POETRY MOBILE APP

61 West Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60654 © 2022 Poetry Foundation

See a problem on this page?