Ozymandias

Paying attention to subject matter and style, discuss the effectiveness of “Ozymandias” as a poem. An artist paints with colors; a poet uses lines and stanzas, and just as we must look deeply at a picture, our cursory reading of a poem cannot dictate our final opinion about the effectiveness of a poem. Accordingly, an in-depth reading of “Ozymandias,” would make it possible for one to determine the effectiveness of subject matter while also seizing the opportunity to appreciate its style. At the level of subject matter, the protagonist reveals that he met a traveler who tells him about his journey to an ancient land. In these first two lines, the traveler begins relating his story about how he comes across an enormous statue which is in the middle of the desert standing with only its legs. In the following two lines, the traveler goes on to talk about the face of the statue and describing how it’s broken and lying beside the statue. The look upon the face has a smile that mocked but also has a very stern look. At this point in the poem, Percy Shelly gives the reader great visualization of what the traveler is seeing and experiencing.
In the next two lines, we are given insight on the sculptor where one might think that the sculptor knows this person he is sculpting and knows him well. Like an archer hitting his target, the sculptor captures in perfect detail his impression of this man so well that after all these years, one can still see the great detail of what type of person this is. As one continues through the poem in the following two lines, the traveler continues to talk about the sculptor and his work. The sculptor seems to be mocking the commander in this statue which can be clearly seen. The traveler notices words upon the pedestal which stands out to him immensely and sheds light upon who this person is, Ozymandias. Through these words, one can see that this man is very full of himself and has a huge ego. He references himself to Christ and then