2. Starter • Ancient Egyptian uses a
mixture of logographic and
alphabetic symbols.
• Use the alphabetic
hieroglyphs here, to write
out your name in ancient
Egyptian.
• Egyptians didn't always spell
from left to right. Sometimes
they stacked symbols.
• Pharaohs had cartouches
(oval shapes with their
names in).
• For example, Tutankhamun.
• Draw out your name in a
cartouche as if you were a
pharaoh.
3. Does anyone know what this is?
• This is the Rosetta Stone.
• To contains the text of a decree
(command) written in three
languages: Ancient Greek, Ancient
Egyptian and Demotic Egyptian
(everyday spoken Egyptian).
• Until the 1820s nobody knew how
to translate hieroglyphs.
• This stone helped language experts
work out what they meant.
• Rosetta is the place in Egypt where
the stone was discovered.
• A French soldier found the stone in
1799.
• The English captured it and brought
it to London. It is now the most
visited exhibit in the British
Museum.
4. Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Percy Bysshe Shelley was a
“Romantic” poet, who only
really became famous after his
death. He wrote Ozymandias
for a competition in 1817.
• At this time, Hieroglyphs and
ancient Egypt were still
largely a mystery.
• He was inspired to write
after hearing how an Italian
explorer called Belzoni had
retrieved a huge statue from
the desert in Egypt.
5. Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Shelley was a
“romantic poet”-they
believed in emotion
rather than reason,
tried to capture
intense experiences in
their poems and
particularly focussed
on the power of
nature.
6. Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Shelley also disliked
monarchies, absolute
power and the
oppression of
ordinary people.
• His radical views were
inspired by the events
of the French
Revolution, where the
monarchy was
overthrown.
7. • Shelley died in
1822 a few
weeks before
his 30th
birthday.
• His boat sank
in a storm on a
lake in Italy.
• He was
cremated.
• This famous
painting of the
scene is in The
Walker Art
Gallery in
Liverpool.
Lord Byron-famous poet
8. What’s it about?
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunk less legs of stone
Stand in the desert.
The narrator meets a traveller
from an ancient land who tells
him about a statue standing in
the middle of the desert.
9. 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:
It is the statue of a proud,
powerful an arrogant king who
ruled over a past civilisation.
10. And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
He arrogantly
boasts about how
powerful he is in an
inscription on the
statue’s base.
11. Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
However, ironically, the statue
has fallen down and crumbled
away so that only the ruins
remain.
12. 3 Voices
• There are three
“voices” in the poem.
1. The speaker or “I”
from the first line.
2. The “traveller from an
antique land” who
tells him the tale.
3. The words of
“Ozymandias” on the
pedestal of the statue.
13. Form
1. I met a traveller from an antique land
2. Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
3. Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
4. Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
5. And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
6. Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
7. Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
8. The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
9. And on the pedestal these words appear:
10. 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
11. Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!‘
12. Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
13. Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
14. The lone and level sands stretch far away."
A 14 line poem called a sonnet from the
Italian word “sonetto” which means
“little song”.
It is also an example of
ekphrasis-a work of art (a
poem) about a work of art (a
statue)
Sonnets are often split into sections.
This one is presented in one large
chunk-like the remains of the
statue?
The first 8 lines of a
sonnet are called the
octet.
The last 6 lines are
known as the sestet.
The “jump” in the middle
is called the volta where
there is normally a
change of subject or
mood.
14. Structure
I met a traveller from an antique land (A)
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone (B)
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, (A)
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, (B)
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, (A)
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read (C)
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, (D)
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: (C)
And on the pedestal these words appear: (E)
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: (D)
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!‘ (E)
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay (F)
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare (E)
The lone and level sands stretch far away.“ (F)
Can you mark in the rhyme scheme for
the poem? The rhyming words have
been coloured to help you.
15. Structure: Rhyme Scheme
• Sonnets usually have set rhyme patterns.
• Italian (Petrachan) sonnets are usually:
• abba, abba, cdc, cdc.
• English (Shakespearean) sonnets are usually:
• abab, cdcd, efef, gg
• Shelley’s poem doesn’t follow these regular
patterns and is more broken up. Why do you
think this is?
16. Structure-Rhythm/Meter
X / x / x / x / x / x
I met a traveller from an antique land
x / x / x / x / x /
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
/ x x / x
Stand in the desert.
Can you mark in rhythm (beats)
for the poem? They normally land
on the vowel sounds. It helps to
clap them out.
The pattern is mostly X /
(soft beat, heavy beat). These are
known as iambs.
Because there are 5 heavy
beats in each line we call
this rhythm iambic
pentameter.
17. Language
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.
A poetic way of saying
“ancient”.
Two adjectives emphasising the size and
weight of the statue. “Trunkless” means
that the torso of the statue has broken away.
This monumental statue was obviously built
to last. Why is this ironic?
Highlight all the body parts
mentioned in the poem.
1st speaker.
2nd speaker. Presented
in direct speech.
Desert setting suggests
absence of life and vitality.
The speaker presents a tale he has
heard from a traveller. What effect
does this have on the reader?
18. Language
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:
Effect of
adjective?
French for face
What is the effect of these
three descriptions of the
face? What does “cold”
suggest? What is a “sneer”?
Notice the
alliteration
Emotions.
Metaphor-his face is
like a book which the
sculptor read easily.
Still survive. Contrasts
with “lifeless” later in
the line.
Metaphor-carved face
has been “stamped” with
features like a coin.
Personification-features
speak to us and tell a tale
19. Ambiguous line?
“The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed”
• It is not clear here whether it means the sculptor’s
hand which carved the image. Does it mean that he
was mocking the pharaoh by showing his cruel
features in the statue?
• Or does it mean the pharaoh’s hand mocking the
people of Egypt?
• What do you think “the heart that fed” means and
who does it refer to?
20. Language
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!‘
“Ped” means foot. Literally the foot of the statue.
The inscription on the base of the
statue. The 3rd voice of the poem.
Ozymandias was the Egyptian
name for the Pharaoh Rameses II
Arrogant and powerful-he challenges other
ruler to look on his “works”-statues, cities etc
and despair. Why is this ironic?
“Look” is a verb so this is a
command or imperative.
It also begins with a heavy
or stressed beat (changing
the rhythm) and giving the
statement more power.
21. Language
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
Simple sentence.
Colossal, adjective. Huge. The Colossus of Rhodes
was an enormous statue from ancient Greece which
guarded the harbour of the island of Rhodes. It was
one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
What is the effect
of finishing with
alliteration?
Irony-he tells other rulers to “despair”. They should but not because of his power.
They should be fearful because their power is temporary and ultimately
unimportant compared to that of time and nature. Human life is transient.
22. Feelings and attitudes
• PRIDE-The ruler was proud of what he’d achieved. He
called on other rules to admire what he did.
• ARROGANGE-The inscription shows that he believed
that he was the most powerful ruler in the land-
nobody else could complete with him. He though he
was better than those he ruled.
• POWER-Human civilisations and achievements are
insignificant compared to the passing of time. Art has
the power to preserve elements of human existence
but it is only temporary.
23. Questions
1. Why do you think the poem is set in a vague
“antique” land?
2. Why do you think “Nothing beside remains”
comes directly after the ruler’s inscription?
3. What does the poem suggest about the way
Ozymandias ruled?
4. At the start we said that Shelley:
• “Focussed on the power of nature”.
• “Disliked monarchies, absolute power and the
oppression of ordinary people.”
• Where is the evidence for this in this poem?
24. Themes and comparison
• The power of humans
• The power of nature (The Prelude, Exposure,
Storm on the Island)
• Negative emotions-pride
• Life represented in art (My Last Duchess?)
