Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote the poem "Ozymandias" in 1818. The poem tells the story of a traveler who comes upon the remains of a statue in the desert, including two legs of stone and a shattered face. The pedestal bears an inscription that proclaims "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" However, nothing else remains of the statue or the empire of Ozymandias, whose real name was Ramesses II, the Egyptian pharaoh. Through this, Shelley conveys the inevitable decline of even the mightiest of leaders and their empires over time.