Ozymandias Notes

Poetic Techniques

Alliteration: “sneer of cold command” (5)
The harsh and cutting “c” sound emphasizes Ozymandias’ once ruthless power.

Consonance: “these lifeless things” (7)
The smooth, soft, and wispy “s” sound is fleeting, just like the fleeting things of this world such as power and possessions.

Allusion
Ozymandias, also known as Ramses II, was an Egyptian Pharaoh. He was once the most powerful man in Egypt, with all the riches he could ever ask for. This allusion to such a powerful man, now only remembered in a broken statue, is significant because this shows that even the most rich and powerful man of the time no longer has any influence or importance.

Alliteration: “Boundless and bare” (13)
The soft, almost indistinct “b” sound reflects the aimless, lonely state of Ozymandias’ statue.
-Renee
Imagery: “Half sunk, a shattered visage lies” (4) - Gives vivid impression of the atmosphere and mood of the scene

Constance: "a shattered visage lies" (4)- the soft "s" sound shows how the monarch's power has faded

Repetition: the repeating thematic elements of the sand and the desert (throughout whole poem) - helps the reader to get in the mindset of the ancient Egyptian setting, highlights the haziness and dreariness of the desert… connect to “sands of time”
-Allen
Punctuation: lines 3~7, commas depict broken down, shattered statue itself

Ellipses: line 3 indicates a distance between the fragments, and emphasises the “nothingness” of the surrounding; there is nothing besides this broken down statue, the “sound of nothing” (if that makes sense)

Consonance: “two vast and trunkless legs of stone”
“s” sound creates smoothed out image of the statue due to being cut by the sandy wind and degrading.

Rhyme Scheme: Petrarchan style with lots of variation broken rhyme scheme representing Ozymandias himself and his power, but also the concept of degradation and how everything falls apart as time passes.

Alliteration
"The lone and level sands stretch far away." (15)
--> repeating 'l' sound, a long and soft sound, reflects the tranquility of the traveller passing the statue. The statue did not disturb or bother him; instead, he's is able to move on without thinking much about it. The 's' sound, another soft and long sound, has a similar effect.

Irony "'Look on my works...' / Nothing beside remains." (11-12)
Despite the boldness of Ozzie, his works have disappeared from Egypt.

Sound device
"Stone stand...sand...sunk, a shattered...sculpture." (A whole bunch of lines)
The soft s = imagery of a calm sandy environment. Soothing. No excitement or awe is built up.

Questions for the Class

Renee: read poem

Haruka: 1) ask class for rhyme scheme
>ababa, cdc, ede, fef/ what device is used frequently in this sonnet to make these schemes? 2) divide poem
>how do you know they are the divisions? cinquain(explain probably) followed by 3 tercets 3) ask class what type of sonnet they think this is
>what type of sonnet is this close to?petrarchan why not shakespearean? bc it doesn’t end with a couplet
>while in a normal petrarchan the last sestet is variable in its scheme, why does this sonnet change the first octave as well? why is it not a perfect petrarchan?
>Any imagery from the broken rhyme scheme?Does it illustrate anything about the poem?
Allen: Lines 1-3 (up to the ellipses)
Line 1: Who is speaking from lines 2 to 14? the traveler
Why doesn't the persona speak instead? to illustrate the antiqueness and add to the distanced feeling What are the connotations of antique? How does this apply to the rest of the poem? mysterious, old, valuable in the eye of the beholder, art (Allen, I may jump in here to explain this a little more. Is that alright? -Renee) of course, thanks Renee!
Line 2: On a literal level, what does it mean to be “trunkless?” missing torso What is the significance of the statue being "trunkless?" the torso is really the core of the body, and without a core, the statue lacks a heart and soul
… without the torso, the core of the body is missing and there is no way for the ephemeral nature of the power of the past civilization to be preserved and go past the crucible of time -
Line 3: What is the significance of the setting in the desert?
Sand is easily blown away by the wind. the desert sand is continually being reshaped by the external forces around.
The popular proverb of “the sands of time” applies to what the persona wants to convey parallel to the ephemeral nature of power and dominance.
The power of time should not be underestimated --- time has the power to destroy even the most prominent of rulers of their time literally spitting even the vestiges of the rulers and burying the remnants deep down within the sand.
Nothing is permanent...

allen, you can add on to this. i kind of forgot what we said...

Vijay: Lines 3-5
Line 3: What is an ellipses? fragmentation, or also used by writers when missing text → How does the insertion of the ellipses at this part of the poem enhance the depiction of the statue? fragmentation shows the separation between the legs and the head
Lines 4-5: How does the punctuation represent the physical status of the statue?
Line 5: What literary device do you see in line 5? What are the connotations of the “c” sound in "cold command?” How does this add to the description of the statue?
Emphasizes ozymandias once ruthless power

Jacob- Lines 6-8
Line 6-7: Paraphrase what these two lines mean.
Line 7: What does the "s" sound in "survive, stamped on these lifeless things" portray about the "things"?

→ S is a long, soft sound. Demonstrates the long-lasting nature of the sculpture, has quietly survived the elements and time.
→ “sss” is also very hard to capture. the sound is not concrete like “k” or “t” and this fleeting, almost indistinct sound of “sss” is a reflection of the temporariness of the things that ozzy had: power and wealth.

Line 8: The "hand", "them", and "heart". What/who do they all refer to? Is there more than one way to think about this?
--> Could be Ozymandias: Them = the people. Heart feeds “those passions”.
→ Could be sculptor: them= the passions. Heart feeds the artwork.

Line 8: What does the word “mocked” mean? How is the word "mocked" used in this context? Why not use the phrase “laughed at”
→ Mocked can mean both “to make fun of” and “to imitate”. So, the sculptor could be trying to imitate those passions in his artwork; DEFIANCE against Ramses, showing contempt in art instead of outwardly. Perpetuates the double-meaning.

Renee: Lines 9-12 (up to “remains.”)
Line 9: What purpose does this inscription serve? ironic, overexaggeration of impact of individual So nothing of Ozzy’s power and wealth remains. However, there is something else that remains: what is it? the impression of ozzy created by the sculptor (refer back to lines 6-7) ART survives!

Haruka: Lines 12-14 (starting from “round”)
Ask to paraphrase
Line 12~14: structure of the one sentence, what’s different about this sentence compared to the first half? Is there a device that’s used differently in the sentence? -enjambment
How does that relate to what the sentence is illustrating? -”boundless” and baren, slowly moving away from the image of the statue, distancing, “back from the story”
Line12~13: The word “decay” is used to portray a “colossal wreck”. why is the broken statue described as colossal but decaying, connotation of words and relate to theme from line 9
Line 14: There are alot of sound devices here: “boundless and bare”, “lone and level”, “sands stretch”. What kind of sound do all of these create? soft, quiet -> bareness
>What does this illustrate about the final image of the statue and the theme of line 9
Setting?