Ozymandias (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- First Published: 1818
- Type of Work: Sonnet
- Genres: Poetry, Sonnet
- Subjects: Traveling or travelers, Kings, queens, or royalty, Egypt or Egyptians, Mortality, Deserts, Vanity, Statues
- Locales: London, England
The Poem
“Ozymandias” is a sonnet composed by the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and named for its subject, with the Greek name of the Egyptian king Ramses II, who died in 1234 b.c.e. The poem follows the traditional structure of the fourteen-line Italian sonnet, featuring an opening octave, or set of eight lines, that presents a conflict or dilemma, followed by a sestet, or set of six lines, that offers some resolution or commentary upon the proposition introduced in the octave.
The poem is conventionally written in iambic pentameter (that is, ten syllables per...
[The entire page is 1418 words long]
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