d. CE 101 - Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Channel: Ishan Marvel
Date: 06/12/2020

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTSoWRKkWJTZHH9sr7bmr37Wd16TTbRbr
From The Blossoming Mind

Ozymandias is the Greek name for Ramesses II, or Ramesses the Great (1303-1213 BCE) -- often considered the most powerful and celebrated Egyptian pharoah, who secured the Egyptian borders, maintained peace during his reign, and built great cities and architecture throughout his kingdom. His mummified remains were discovered in 1881.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/09/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-ozymandias-statue-found-in-mud

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
A major romantic poet who could effectively express his intense emotions and ideas through vivid images, drawn mainly from nature. 
At the same time his poems also reflect sadness at the imperfection of the world and impermanence of happiness. His well-known poems include 'Ode to the West Wind' and 'Adonais'.

SONNET: A poem of 14 lines, where the first 8 lines describe an idea/situation, and then the last 6 lines provide a 'turn' in thought or a general comment. 

OZYMANDIAS (1818)
* In this sonnet, the first 8 lines provide the setting of the story, and the last 6 lines present the theme emphatically. Out of the last 6 lines, the first 3 show the excessive pride of King Ozymandias, while the remaining three lines describe how no sign remains of those achievements that had made him feel so proud.
* Through Ozymandias' example, Shelley brings out his main theme regarding the futility of pride in worldly achievements that are essentially impermanent. King Ozymandias felt so proud of having built some grand city that he got his huge statue installed there, and through the words carved on the pedestal he described himself as the greatest of kings and boasted that nobody could ever equal his achievements. 
* Now there is no sign of the grand structures -- only level sands are visible on all sides of his broken statue. His negative qualities of anger and proud contempt, however, can still be seen as carved on the sculpted face lying half-buried in sand.