ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -"Ozymandias” (/ˌɒziˈmændiəs/ o-zee-MAN-dee-əs) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London.

Detailed explanation-2: -My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Written sometime in late 1817 and published on January 11, 1818 in Leigh Hunt’s Examiner, “Ozymandias” is a poem that bears the Greek name for the Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II (13th century B.C.).

Detailed explanation-3: -When Ozymandias orders “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” he meant to cause his rivals despair over his incredible power, but he may have only caused them despair when they realized their ignominious end was as inevitable as his.

Detailed explanation-4: -In order to emphasise on him to be the most powerful of all kings, King Ozymandias calls himself ‘King of Kings’. The king supposedly was very powerful, aggressive, arrogant and boastful. Suggest Corrections.

Detailed explanation-5: -The poem is a sonnet and is written in iambic pentameter. Some suggest that the sonnet form has been used to mirror Ozymandias’ egotistical love of himself. The first eight lines (octave) the statue is described in its different parts to shows its deterioration over time.