How is irony used in "Ozymandias"?

Both situational and dramatic irony are used to convey the poem's central purpose: that all human beings and all human achievements are temporal and fleeting. No matter how prideful we are or how powerful we actually are in life, because our lives are impermanent, so are our achievements and our power.

Situational irony is created when what we would expect to happen differs from what actually does happen. This statue of Ozymandias, or Pharaoh Rameses II, was fifty-seven feet tall, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. It was commissioned in order to display the pharaoh's power and might, yet now it lies shattered and forgotten in the sand, which is itself symbolic of the passage of time. We would not expect such a grand statue to be reduced to such detritus, and this is what constitutes the irony as well as shows how the poem conveys the idea that, in time, even the "greatest" of us can be forgotten.

Dramatic irony is created when the reader knows more than a character does. In this poem, if we think of Rameses II as a character, then we certainly know more than he does. He seems not to have realized that the sculptor who crafted the pharaoh's "sneer of cold command" was judgmental of rather than awestruck by him; further, Rameses II must have believed the inscription on the pedestal, not knowing or realizing that time would render him and his "Works" forgotten. He thought that his fame and stories of his might would live forever, but they have not. This also helps to convey the poem's meaning.

How is irony used in "Ozymandias"?

Irony takes place when a given situation turns out to be quite different than initially expected, especially in a humorous or poignant way. As was mentioned in the previous post, the irony of the poem lies in the fact that there is nothing left to show for Ozymandias's reign. Throughout the poem, Shelley describes the decaying remains of the statue dedicated to the tyrannical Ramesses II. All that is left of the statue is a crumbled pair of stone legs and a detached stone face that has sunk into the sand. The inscription on the pedestal reads, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look at my works, Ye Mighty, and despair!" The irony of this statement is that there are no longer any "works" left to marvel at. Evidence of Ozymandias's imperial accomplishments has diminished with time, and there are no remains of his former glory. Shelley's poem explores the transience of power, empire, and legacy.

How is irony used in "Ozymandias"?

The irony in Ozymandias pivots on these lines: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my work, ye Mighty, and despair!" Ozymandias, once a powerful Egyptian tyrant, had a huge statue built of himself and inscribed it with those lines. Ironically, the statue is now broken and scattered, and the once mighty kingdom is an empty, barren desert. While Ozymandias meant people, especially powerful people, to tremble before his enormous statue with the "sneer of cold command" on its "visage" (face), and to be frightened by his immense city and powerful army (his "works"), he now has nothing. He is nothing.

The irony is that instead of trembling and despairing at his power, the mighty should now tremble and despair at Ozymandias's loss of power, because this too will happen to them. Rulers may think they are safe and secure, but in reality they will be broken. Ozymandias meant his words to mean one thing: as is always the case with irony, they ended up to mean something different from what he intended. 

How is irony used in "Ozymandias"?

"Ozymandias" by Percy Byssche Shelley is a poem in sonnet form which chronicles the rise and ultimate fall of a great king's empire as well as the evaporation of his fame, something this arrogant king assumed would live forever. It is a warning to anyone who thinks their fame and glory will last forever.

We have the image of a once-grand stone statue; it undoubtedly stood in a prominent place in the middle of the king's vast empire. Perhaps it even stood on the edge of his holdings, a physical presence of the mighty king to all who were about to enter his empire. Now it stands, broken, in the middle of a vast desert. 

..."Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. 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."

The statue now consists of two legs on a pedestal; the head of the once-great king lies next to the crumbling structure, half buried in sand and shattered almost beyond recognition. The look on his face tells us the man who built this empire was a ruthless and imperious man, one who probably built his empire through cruelty and greed. The speaker of the poem notes that the sculptor accurately captured the mocking and scorning sneer of this once-mighty king.

We learn the name of this king, Ozymandias, when we read the inscription on the base of the statue.

"And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'"

This is one of the great ironies of the poem. This one-time colossal statue was here to mark the empire of this king who wanted everyone to look at what he has accomplished and be intimidated by the spectacle. No doubt it was, at least for a time, an effective deterrent to those who wanted to threaten this king and his holdings. Ironically, 

"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away." 

This former grand empire, the apparent source of intimidation and power to all who came near, is now a wasteland. Nothing is left but the meaningless but ironic warning to occasional desert wanderers. 

One other irony is that this is a warning to all who think the things they create will last forever, which is essentially what writers, musicians, and artists wish for their creations and themselves. Ironically, then, this poet is reminding himself that what he creates (this poem) is not likely to last, even as he writes it for that very purpose.

And, in one final irony, this particular poem has lasted, since we are still reading it and talking about it today.

How does visualizing "Ozymandias" aid in understanding its irony?

In "Ozymandias," the remains of a massive and imposing statue of the imperious titular king are strewn about in a barren desert. Years earlier, the ruler ordered a sculptor to create his likeness for posterity. The statue’s pedestal states,

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

The poem’s situational irony is that this self-aggrandizing monarch who bragged of peerless rule over lands no longer possesses any power. Filled with hubris, the epitaph boasts of significant achievements that are supposed to make any observer feel “despair” or inferiority. For anyone reading it, the inscription sets up expectations of greatness and dominance. It is a command like “read ‘em and weep!”

Instead, the visual images that confront the speaker comically undercut the fallen ruler’s words. If a reader can visualize the scene as the speaker describes it, the reader would see

Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

The statue of the frightful tyrant is broken into disembodied body parts, which are scattered about. King Ozymandias’s torso is missing, leaving large but ultimately helpless legs stranded. A few feet away, the king’s head is partially buried; all the speaker can see (and the reader visualize) is a broken face with a cruel frown, curled lip, and petulant expression. He is disabled and impotent; his image is deflated.

King Ozymandias’s bluster is empty; neither his power nor his self-ordered monument can survive natural forces and passing time. In the end, the symbol of his vain glory is reduced to a “colossal Wreck” stripped of any ornamentation and honor; it is half-covered with “lone and level sands” in the middle of nowhere. No one comes to pay the monarch any respects.

King Ozymandias’s pathetic, crumbled statue calls to mind the ending of the 1968 film Planet of the Apes. The protagonist finds the Statue of Liberty nearly buried in sand on a beach; only the upper torso, crowned head, and torch-bearing arm of Lady Liberty are visible. Horrified, the protagonist curses the hubris of mankind for unleashing a nuclear war that ultimately destroys the world. Similarly, the remains of King Ozymandias signify how one man’s arrogance may have led to his own downfall.