ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

• P.B.SHELLEY WAS BORN ON 4 AUGUST 1792 IN WEST SUSSEX, ENGLAND.

HE WAS THE ELDEST LEGITIMATE SON OF SIR TIMOTHY SHELLEY, A
SUSSEX LANDOWNER. HE HAD FOUR YOUNGER SISTERS AND A MUCH
YOUNGER BROTHER. HE RECEIVED HIS EARLY EDUCATION AT HOME.
HIS EARLY CHILDHOOD HAS BEEN RECOUNTED IN ‘THE LIFE OF PERCY
BYSSHE SHELLEY ‘BY HIS FRIEND AND COUSIN, THOMAS MEDWIN.

• HE STUDIED AT ETON COLLEGE AND LATER AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY. IN

1811, SHELLEY ANONYMOUSLY PUBLISHED A PAMPHLET CALLED ’THE
NECESSITY OF ATHEISM’ WHICH WAS BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF
THE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION AND HE WAS CALLED TO APPEAR
BEFORE THE COLLEGE'S FELLOWS, INCLUDING THE DEAN. HIS REFUSAL
TO REPUDIATE THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE PAMPHLET RESULTED IN
HIS EXPULSION FROM OXFORD ON 25 MARCH 1811. HE WROTE MANY
SHORT STORIES, ESSAYS, POEMS OUT OF WHICH THE BEST KNOWN
ARE OZYMANDIAS, ODE TO THE WEST WIND, THE CENCI, ADONAIS,
PROMETHEUS UNBOUND TO NAME A FEW.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

1792-1822
 STANZA 1:
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;
WORD MEANING
• ANTIQUE: OLD
• TRUNKLESS: WITHOUT THE UPPER BODY (THE MAIN PART OF THE BODY OF A HUMAN BEING OR AN ANIMAL,
EXCLUDING THE HEAD, NECK, AND LIMBS)
• SUNK: TO DESCEND BELOW THE SURFACE OF SOMETHING
• SHATTERED: BROKEN INTO PIECES
• VISAGE: FACE
• FROWN: EXPRESSION OF ANGER OR DISPLEASURE
• WRINKLED: MARKS OF LINES OR FOLDS
• SNEER: FACIAL EXPRESSION OF SCORN OR HOSTILITY IN WHICH THE UPPER LIP MAY BE RAISED
• COLD: WITHOUT FEELINGS FOR OTHERS
• COMMAND: DOMINATION OR CONTROL
• SCULPTOR: AN ARTIST WHO MAKES SCULPTURES
• PASSIONS: REFERS TO THE EXPRESSIONS ON THE KING’S FACE
• READ: INTERPRETED
• SURVIVE: CONTINUE TO EXIST AFTER HIS DEATH
• STAMPED: SCULPTED, PRINTED OR ENGRAVED
• MOCKED: TO COPY SOMETHING
 STANZA 2:
AND ON THE PEDESTAL THESE WORDS APPEAR:
"MY NAME IS OZYMANDIAS, KING OF KINGS:
LOOK UPON 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.
WORD MEANING
• PEDESTAL: THE BASE OF A STATUE
• MIGHTY: THE POWERFUL KINGS OF THE WORLD
• DESPAIR: WITHOUT HOPE
• BESIDE: ELSE
• DECAY: BROKEN PIECES OF THE STATUE
• COLOSSAL: EXTREMELY LARGE OR GREAT
• WRECK: RUINS
• BOUNDLESS: WITHOUT LIMITS
• BARE: WITHOUT THE GREAT STATUE OF OZYMANDIAS
• LONE: THE ONLY SURVIVOR
SUMMARY:
THIS IS A SONNET (A POEM OF FOURTEEN LINES – THE FIRST EIGHT FORM AN OCTAVE AND THE
NEXT SIX FORM A SESTET).
IT IS ABOUT A RUINED STATUE WHICH HAS BECOME SO WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND HERE,
WE CAN CORRELATE IT WITH SHAKESPEARE’S SONNET ‘NOT MARBLE, NOR THE GILDED
MONUMENTS.
THE TITLE ‘OZYMANDIAS’ IS THE THRONE NAME OF EGYPTIAN KING RAMESSES. THE POEM
TALKS ABOUT HIS FOOLISH DESIRE TO IMMORTALIZE HIMSELF BY ERECTING A STATUE.
THE POET MEETS A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN TO AN ANCIENT PLACE IN THE DESERTS, EGYPT.
HE TELLS THE POET ABOUT THE RUINED STATUE OF THE GREAT POWERFUL KING,
OZYMANDIAS. IT HAD BEEN DESTROYED WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME.
THERE WERE ONLY THE TWO LEGS WHICH STOOD ON
A PLATFORM AND THE UPPER PART OF THE BODY
WAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. THE FACE OF THE
STATUE LAY BURIED IN THE SAND. HE PRAISES THE
TALENT OF THE ARTIST AS THE MINUTEST
EXPRESSIONS AND WRINKLES HAD BEEN PERFECTLY
COPIED BY HIM.
THE ENGRAVING ON THE PLATFORM REFLECTS THE
PRIDE AND ARROGANCE OF OZYMANDIAS. AS THE
STATUE IS NOW DESTROYED, THE ENGRAVING IS A
MOCKERY AT THE PRIDE AND EGO OF THE KING.
QUESTION AND ANSWER :
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS BY TICKING THE CORRECT OPTIONS.
(A) THE POEM IS SET IN ____________________________________________
(I) THE WILDERNESS
(II) AN ANCIENT LAND
(III) A PALACE
(IV) A DESERT
A. A DESERT
(B) THE EXPRESSION ON THE FACE OF THE STATUE IS ONE OF
____________________
(I) ADMIRATION
(II) ANGER
(III) DESPAIR
(IV) CONTEMPT
A. CONTEMPT
(C) THIS POEM THROWS LIGHT ON THE _________________ NATURE OF
OZYMANDIAS.
(I) CRUEL
(II) ARROGANT
(III) BOASTFUL
(IV) AGGRESSIVE
A. BOASTFUL
(D) THE SCULPTOR WAS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND OZYMANDIAS' ___________________
(I) WORDS
(II) EXPRESSION
(III) FEELINGS
(IV) AMBITION
A. EXPRESSIONS

(E) THE TONE OF THE POEM IS ________________________________________

(I) MOCKING
(II) NOSTALGIC
(III) GLOOMY
(IV) GLOATING
A. GLOATING
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS
BRIEFLY:
(A) "THE HAND THAT MOCKED THEM, AND THE HEART THAT FED." WHOSE HAND
AND HEART HAS THE POET REFERRED TO IN THIS LINE?
THE HAND THAT MOCKED THEM, AND THE HEART THAT FED.”
IN THIS LINE THE HAND REFERRED TO IS THE HAND OF THE SCULPTOR WHO HAS
CARVED THE STATUE. HE HAS COPIED THE EXACT EXPRESSIONS OF THE KING’S
FACE, THUS, MAKING A PERFECT REPLICA. THE HEART REFERS TO THE HEART
OF KING OZYMANDIAS WHICH IS THE SOURCE OF THESE EXPRESSIONS OF
ANGER, HATRED AND PRIDE.
(B) "MY NAME IS OZYMANDIAS, KING OF KINGS:" WHY DOES OZYMANDIAS REFER
TO HIMSELF AS KING OF KINGS? WHAT QUALITY OF THE KING IS REVEALED
THROUGH THIS STATEMENT.
"MY NAME IS OZYMANDIAS, KING OF KINGS:“
THIS VERSE SHOWS THAT OZYMANDIAS WAS VERY PROUD OF HIS POWER,
POSITION AND GLORY. HE CONSIDERED HIMSELF TO BE THE MIGHTIEST OF ALL
KINGS WHICH SHOWS THAT HE WAS OVERBLOWN AND HIGH HEADED.
(D) BRING OUT THE IRONY IN THE POEM.
IN THE POEM THE POET HIGHLIGHTS THAT THE PRIDE AND EXAGGERATION OF
THE POWERFUL KINGS MAKES THEM SHORT SIGHTED. IN THEIR DESPERATION
TO ESTABLISH GLORY AND NAME FOR ALL TIMES TO COME, THEY FORGET THAT
NOTHING IS PERMANENT IN THIS WORLD.
THE HUGE STATUE BUILT BY KING OZYMANDIAS IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH HIS
GREATNESS FOR ALL TIMES TO COME HAS BEEN RUINED BY THE ALL-PERVASIVE
TIME. THE WORDS ENGRAVED ON THE PLATFORM OF HIS STATUE “LOOK UPON
MY WORKS, YE MIGHTY AND DESPAIR” ARE AN IRONY. TODAY THERE IS NO SUCH
GREAT WORK SEEN AROUND IT.
ALL AROUND THIS PLATFORM ARE THE SCATTERED REMAINS OF HIS STATUE.
THE INSCRIPTION ON THE HUGE PLATFORM WITH THE TWO LEGS STANDING ON
IT AND HIS FACE HALF BURIED IN SAND IS A MOCKERY OF HIS CLAIM OF BEING
THE MIGHTIEST AND THE MOST POWERFUL RULER.
(E) 'NOTHING BESIDE REMAINS.' WHAT DOES THE NARRATOR MEAN WHEN HE
SAYS THESE WORDS?
THE POET WANTS TO SAY IN THIS LINE THAT ALTHOUGH THE INSCRIPTION ON
THE PLATFORM READS OUT TO ALL THE MIGHTY RULERS TO LOOK AT HIS
WORKS, THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO SEE AROUND OVER THERE OTHER THAN
THIS PLATFORM. ALL THAT REMAINS IS THE RUINED SCATTERED PIECES OF HIS
STATUE LYING HALF BURIED IN THE VAST DESERT. SO, THE INSCRIPTION IS A
MOCKERY MADE BY KING OZYMANDIAS OF HIMSELF. HIS BEING THE MIGHTIEST
OF THE MIGHTY KINGS HAS FAILED IN FRONT OF THE POWERFUL ELEMENT OF
TIME WHICH DESTROYS EVERYTHING.
(F) WHAT IS YOUR IMPRESSION OF OZYMANDIAS AS A KING?
OZYMANDIAS WAS A SCORNFUL, PROUD KING. HE WAS SHORT TEMPERED AND
EGOIST. HE DESPERATELY SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH HIS SUPREMACY OVER
OTHER POWERFUL RULERS. IN HIS DESPERATION, HE TURNED A BLIND EYE
TOWARDS THE REALITY OF LIFE. HIS APPROACH TO GET ETERNAL NAME AND
FAME BY ERECTING A STATUE FAILS AS HE IS UNABLE TO FORESEE THE MIGHT
OF THE ALL-PERVASIVE TIME.
(G) WHAT MESSAGE IS CONVEYED THROUGH THIS POEM?
IN THIS POEM THE POET WANTS TO TELL US THAT WE ARE MORTALS AND
REMAIN IN THE WORLD FOR A SHORT TIME. WE MUST NOT TRY TO IMMORTALIZE
OURSELVES BY ACTS OF CONSTRUCTING HUGE STATUES AND MONUMENTS.
THESE THINGS ARE ALSO TIMELY, AND THE MIGHTY TIME DESTROYS
EVERYTHING.
THE PRIDE AND VANITY WHICH ACCOMPANIES THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS DOES
NOT EVEN LET US REMAIN GOOD HUMAN BEINGS. SO, RATHER THAN AIMING FOR
ENDLESS NAME AND FAME, WE MUST LEAD A HUMBLE AND GENEROUS LIFE. THIS
APPROACH TOWARDS LIFE GIVES MEANING TO OUR LIFE AND WE ARE
RECOGNIZED FOR OUR GOOD DEEDS RATHER THAN THE POMP AND SHOW.
Q. Complete the table listing the poetic devices used by Shelley in
Ozymandias.

Poetic device Lines from poem

...and sneer of cold command

Alliteration …Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
… The hand that mocked them, and the heart that
… boundless and bare

Synecdoche (substitution of a part to stand for the hand that mock'd them
the whole, or the whole to the heart that fed
stand for a part)
THANK YOU
😃😃
MADE BY:MANMEET SINGH
CLASS:10 BTH

ROLL NO. :17

WORK FOR SUBJECT ENRICHMENT OF
ENGLISH KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SURANUSSI
2018-19 JALANDHAR