Research Paper On Ozymandias

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The Lesson of Nature vs. The Greatest of Man As Cherlynn Shakespeare once said, “Even the prettiest flower will die one day. It’s nature's way of teaching us that nothing lasts forever.” Nothing lasts forever. No matter how much they try to live on through their works, the greatness and power of humans is temporary when compared to that of nature, which seems to last forever. The ideas from the quote and the statement above explain the theme in Percy Shelley’s poem Ozymandias. Although the poem seems like a mere description at first glance, the figures of speech, attitude, and the shift of the poem help intertwine this theme through each line, creating a poem with immeasurable depth for the readers to unlock. The poem does not directly mention …show more content…

This depth contributes to the overall theme Shelley meant to convey. The poem, a lyrical and somewhat biographical Spenserian sonnet written in iambic pentameter, contains many word choices that emphasize the idea that the statue is in ruins, providing a sharp contrast to how Ozymandias thought he would be remembered by his works. Words such as antique, shattered, despair, decay, and remains show that the statue is broken and in empty lands. Ozymandias thought his colossal works could carry on his greatness forever, which is not the case. The contrast between Ozymandias’ expectations and what now remains adds an ironic tone to the piece. The statue in ruins in the middle of an empty desert also adds an element of death to the mix. It symbolizes the death of the once great civilization that Ozymandias was a part of as well as the death of his ambition, greatness, power, and pride. Nature is the cause of this, which shows how it is more powerful than Ozymandias. The poem also mentions the colossal size of the statue. This symbolizes the power of Ozymandias’ greatness and ambition. Nature destroying the statue is like the death of Ozymandias’ greatness and ambition, a point that is made twice in order to emphasize it. As seen above, Shelley stresses the broken nature of the statue throughout the poem. One of the more subtle ways he does this is by using synecdoches. For example, in

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