1. Matt Simon
February 17. 2015
Eng-336
Dr. Boren
The Works of Ozymandias
The original poem by Percy Shelley is famous for its words “My name is Ozymandias,
King of Kings, Look on my Works, ye Mighty and despair!” While there are theories abound as
to what exactly the poem means, there stands the traveler gazing at the wreckage of what was
once a great visage of stone. Around the stone nothing else exists, the sand stretches far away.
Words inscribed upon the once great pedestal of the statue read, “My name is Ozymandias, King
of Kings, Look on my Works ye Mighty and despair!” (Shelley 776). Nothing else remains but
this single work. Ozymandias, this wonder of Kings of Kings, will be a reminder of pride, but
also the immortality that comes from great works.
“Look on my works” While it is unclear what works we should look on, the words are
substantial in the poem. They stand out as dominant, demanding the reader’s attention right
away. This may be why the line is so popular (though the second part is equally as commanding
and appealing). But to the reader this line is important because the listener in the poem is also the
reader but still in the third person, as the story is being narrated by a mysterious traveler from the
beginning of the poem. Shelley has now made the poem interesting as if she is telling a story told
to her and bringing the element of mystery into the poem as well. Now we wonder whose works

2. we should consider? “Look on my works” is a proud and bold thing to claim. The works could
have been positive works, great works, or they could have been the slaughter of millions. There
again is the mysterious element created by Shelley in the beginning of the poem. Once we begin
to wonder who Ozymandius is/was we move to the second part of the stanza “ye Mighty, and
Despair!”
These words “ye Mighty, and despair” are powerful describers as well. ‘Ye’ always
brings the reader back to a biblical sense and almost a feeling of weakness. Ozymandias
obviously wanted to portray power and omnificence. Even the Mighty could not stop
Ozymandias from achieving his goal. Again was Ozymandias’s works good or bad? Did they
help the lesser men by his works? ‘And despair’, Ozymandias wanted the Mighty to know of his
works forever. But now sand stretches all across and this statue lays alone. Again the reader is
left clueless to exactly what works Ozymandias accomplished and there is only decay. However
Shelley helps create the immortality of Ozymandias with her sense of mystery about the poem.
The reader will never be able to figure exactly out Ozymandias and his works, but as long as this
statue exists, and obviously it has existed through even the decay of his works, the reader will
wonder about Ozymadias’s works. This way Ozymandias lives forever, and Shelley helps create
an air of mystery to her entire poem and creates the immortality of Ozymandias.
“Nothing beside remains.” While the statue and persona of Ozymandias is immortal, his
works were not. There is nothing here. The great works that Ozymandias did are beyond the
traveler’s present. The reader can only assume Ozymandias’s works were long ago. Now they
are quite literally ‘remains’. The use of ‘nothing’ in this stanza is also quite strong as it inspires
the sense of emptiness and even loneliness. Perhaps Ozymandias was proud of his works, but
they no longer exist. That which inspired a greatness and the immortal statue is gone, lost in

3. some time void. “Round the decay” only enforces the reader’s assumption of the corruption and
emptiness of Ozymandias empire. Decay brings forth the idea of death, and it could possibly be
argued that Ozymandias at this point symbolizes death. However, from the previous observation
that the statue still remains, when all of the rest is gone, that Ozymandias, though his works are
gone, is immortal. The rest has decayed, even some of his body, however Ozymandias still exists
in a physical plane that Shelley has created. However the words decay and nothing still make the
reader visualize the emptiness of the world and situation the traveler is in.
The last line of the poem, “The lone and level sand stretch far away” are also a very
heavy indicator that there is not anything for a distance and the traveler is in a very lonely place.
The poem does not specify how far the sands stretch, there is no reference to a point, only it
stretches far away. It brings one to assume that the sands could possibly be endless, that
Ozymandias’s works once spread far and wide, endlessly. Still such a thought is disappointing
that such a sight to inspire greatness is now gone. A purgatory of sorts. It is level and sandy, and
the traveler is the only one there to witness this sight. This brings both the reader and the listener
in the poem closer to the traveler’s feelings that this is a lonely place. Only memories remain,
though while the memories stay and the traveler continues to tell the story and the story
continues, Ozymandias is immortal. It makes it completely impossible to say that it is a poem
about emptiness, for something exists, an once it was great. It was so great that it made even the
Mighty despair, and the King of Kings into a story that will be told again and again. Shelley’s
poem inspires a lot of feelings, religious, the absolution of power, the decline of government,
however there are definitely words to be read within the lines. Ozymandias may be corrupting
and his works perished but truly, he will survive. His works perhaps uncovered at some future
point, perhaps this is the reason for the traveler to tell the story in the very beginning. What’s

4. known for sure is Shelley wrote this poem and the emptiness and glory of Ozymandias works are
impressive and inspiring.

5. Works Cited
Shelley, Percy. “Ozymandias” The Norton Anthology English Literature Ninth Ed. New York.
2012. Print.