The Poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley has a dramatic theme, the end of a civilization. The poem speaks to the overwhelming pride of its ruler based on the inscription on his dilapidated sculpture. The ruins around speak to life’s continuation after death. The world doesn’t stop turning, nor do things ever stay the same for even one second.
Ozymandias was proud of the works he created. He was boastful and proud of what he accomplished. “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” (Line 10 – 11) When Ozymandias says ye Mighty he is speaking of God. He is shaking his fist at him and saying look at what I created without your help. Despite his pride, Ozymandias does not live forever, and his “works” crumble to the ground. “Nothing beside remains, Round the decay of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away.” (Line 12 – 14) Nothing can survive time. The earth weathers everything in it. The pyramids were created thousands of years ago and now they are mostly ruins. Our country is so young. What will America look like in two thousand years? Will the Statue of Liberty still be standing or will it we see a scene from Planet of the Apes? Nothing is forever. We should be proud of what we accomplish, but not in what we have. All of that can be stripped away from us in a second. We all have felt the sting of this economy. How many people are now homeless because they lost their jobs? Have we lost focus of what is truly important?
I think this poem is a warning to us. We should be proud of our accomplishments, but be humble. We do leave pieces of ourselves on the earth, like the ruins of the colossal wreck in the poem. These pieces are our legacy. What do you want to leave behind?
Joan,
ReplyDeleteGood focus on and exploration of this sonnet. You present the quotations well, and work them into your analysis. Be sure to indicate line breaks when quoting poetry, though; use a slash to indicate that break (like this: "Round the decay / Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare, / The lone and level sands stretch far away.” I am not sure Shelley's point is to get the reader to ask what we leave behind, though, since all that is left at the end is the wasteland of "lone and level sands."