Monday, June 23, 2008
Percy Bysshe Shelley
One of my favorite poems by Percy Shelley is “Ozymandias”. He is writing about a statue of Ozymandias, also known as Ramses II, who is thought to be the pharaoh from the book of Exodus whom challenged Moses (399). In the poem the reader learns that all that is left of the statue are the feet, and the head which is “half sunk” in the sand (399). Ramses was once a great king, but his reign has now since ended, just like the statue, which use to be a great monument, and now there is hardly anything left. The speaker says that Ozymandias was “cold,” but was powerful enough that he still was “mocked” by other tyrants after his day. The statue represents Ozymandias rule because, like him, the statue stood great and tall, but it only lasted for so long. The statue is now “sunk” in the sand, and it just shows that nothing really last forever. As great as he was, he is now forgotten, and the statue is also in ruins.
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3 comments:
Thao,
You picked a great poem to discuss, which has many levels of complexity and subtlety. Your post, unfortunately, really does not explore them, but instead makes several generalizations (with little or no textual support) and quotes only snippets of line--not even a complete line, much less a verse sentence. I am disappointed with this post; it is not up to your better work, I am afraid.
I enjoyed reading about Rames in the Bible. His reign was magnificent. Like you said all great things come to an end, like the statue sinking in the sand.
I like how you compared the life of Ramses II to the statue. Almost foreshadowing...except kind of backwards seeing as how the statue diminished after Ramses II died..but an interesting thought
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