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    Calmly Writer Online

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    Parthiva Sinha
    1) The document provides background information about the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and summarizes his poem "Ozymandias." 2) It describes how the traveler encountered the remains of a statue in the desert, including two legs and a shattered face expressing scorn. 3) The pedestal bore an inscription by the king Ozymandias boasting of his great works and power over other kings, but over time his colossal statue was destroyed, leaving only ruins in the boundless, lonely desert.

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    Calmly Writer Online

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    1) The document provides background information about the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and summarizes his poem "Ozymandias." 2) It describes how the traveler encountered the remains of a statue in the desert, including two legs and a shattered face expressing scorn. 3) The pedestal bore an inscription by the king Ozymandias boasting of his great works and power over other kings, but over time his colossal statue was destroyed, leaving only ruins in the boundless, lonely desert.

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    1) The document provides background information about the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and summarizes his poem "Ozymandias." 2) It describes how the traveler encountered the remains of a statue in the desert, including two legs and a shattered face expressing scorn. 3) The pedestal bore an inscription by the king Ozymandias boasting of his great works and power over other kings, but over time his colossal statue was destroyed, leaving only ruins in the boundless, lonely desert.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    13 views3 pages

    Calmly Writer Online

    Uploaded by

    Parthiva Sinha
    1) The document provides background information about the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and summarizes his poem "Ozymandias." 2) It describes how the traveler encountered the remains of a statue in the desert, including two legs and a shattered face expressing scorn. 3) The pedestal bore an inscription by the king Ozymandias boasting of his great works and power over other kings, but over time his colossal statue was destroyed, leaving only ruins in the boundless, lonely desert.

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    Ozymandias

    About the author


    Percy Bysshe Shelley
    1792 – 1822
    Born in Sussex, England

    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.

    Ozymandias Class 10 Poem Explanation

    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;

    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

    The poet met a traveler who came from a remote land. He told the poet that he saw the remains of a statue in the
    desert. Two huge legs made of stone stood and the remaining part of the statue – the upper body was missing.
    Another part of the statue, the face lay on the sand nearby. It was damaged and broken into pieces. The face of
    the statue had expressions of displeasure and a taunting smile. The wrinkles and lines of the face were also there.
    The poet says that the sculptor who had made the statue had read the expressions on the Egyptian king
    Ramesses’s face very well as he was able to copy them onto his statue so accurately. These expressions continued
    to exist even after the king’s death through this lifeless statue. The sculptor’s hands copied the king’s ruthless
    expressions and mocked at them while the king’s stone heart brought out these expressions on his face.

    And on the pedestal these words appear:

    "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

    Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" beside remains. Round the decay
    Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

    The lone and level sands stretch far away.

    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

    At the base of the statue the words - "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look upon my works, ye Mighty,
    and despair!" were engraved. The king introduced himself as Ozymandias, the most powerful king. He ordered
    all the powerful kings of the world to look at his huge statue and feel belittled in front of the mightiest king –
    Ozymandias. The poet says that now nothing else other than this engraving remains. The statue broke down with
    the passage of time and its broken pieces could be seen lying around. The vast desert stretched all around and it
    seemed to be endless. The statue of the great king Ozymandias was nowhere to be seen.

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