PPT ON OZYMANDIAS

MADE BY

SAGARCLASS-10

ROLL NO-23

OZYMANDIASBY:- PERCY BYSSHE

SHELLEY

ABOUT THE POET

Name: Percy Bysshe Shelley Famous as:-Romantic and Lyric Poet.

Born on:-04 August 1792. Born in:-Horsham, England. Died on:-08 July 1822. Nationality:-United Kingdom. Works & Achievements:-The Revolt of Islam, The Masque of Anarchy and Men of England.

On 10 April 1810, he matriculated at University College, Oxford. Legend has it that Shelley attended only one lecture while at Oxford, but frequently read sixteen hours a day. His first publication was a Gothic novel, Zastrozzi (1810), in which he vented his early atheistic worldview through the villain Zastrozzi. In the same year, Shelley, together with his sister Elizabeth, published Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire. While at Oxford, he issued a collection of verses (ostensibly burlesque but quite subversive), Posthumous Fragments of Margaret Nicholson, with Thomas Jefferson Hogg.

MORE ABOUT THE POET (CONT.)

HISTORY OF OZYMANDIAS

Written in 1817 during a writing contest against Horace Smith.

First published in 11/Jan/1818 in Leigh Hunt’s Examiner.

Thought to be inspired by the arrival of the statue of “younger Memnon” in Britain.

A ‘classic’ poem which has been studied and dissected countless times in the subject of English ever since its creation.

OZYMANDIAS POEM I met a traveller from an antique landWho said: two vast and trunk less legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them on the sand,Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold commandTell 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;

And on the pedestal these words appear:

“My name is Ozymandias, kings of kings:

Look upon my words, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

SUMMARY OF THE POEMThe poet happened to come across a person who had been to a ancient country in the deserts. The traveller described to the poet an intriguing sight that had caught his attention there. He said that he saw a dilapidated status in the vast expanse of the desert. Only two stone legs stood mounted on a very huge and high pedestal. The trunk of the statue however was nowhere to be seen.

Just below the pedestal there was a half buried face of the statue. The face wore a very scornful expression. Its inhospitable, heartless and dispassionate looks revealed the talent of the skilful sculptor who successfully captured all nuances of this cold countenance. Down below the pedestal, Ozymandias’s pompous claim of being the mightiest of the mighty was engraved. The neglected, shattered statue highlighted the irony of the erroneous claim.

Time had wiped out all the power, position and statues of this self-styled ‘mighty’ king. The passage of years pushed him into oblivion, and today there was no trace of his strength and superiority in the vast desert. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but expansive stretches of sand all over commenting upon the all-pervasive and long lasting power of nature and the ephemerality of man.

Q.1 Answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.(A) The poem is set in (i)the wilderness(ii)an ancient land (iii)a place (iv)a desert(B) The expression on the face of the statue is one of (i)admiration(ii)anger

(iii)despair(iv)contempt(C) This poem throws light on the nature of Ozymandias(i)cruel(ii)arrogant(iii)boastful(iv)aggressive(D)The sculptor was able to understand Ozymandias(i)words(ii)expression

(iii)Feelings(iv)ambition(E) The tone of the poem is(i)mocking(ii)nostalgic(iii)gloomy(iv)gloating

Q.2 Answer the following questions briefly.(a) “The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.”Whose hand and heart has the poet referred to in this line?(b)”My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:”Why does Ozymandias refer to himself as king of kings?What quality of the king is revealed through this statement.

(c)“Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”Who is Ozymandias referring to when he speaks of ye mighy?Why should despair?

(d)Bring out the irony in the poem.

(e)‘Nothing beside remains.’what does the narrator mean when he says these words?

(f) What is your impression of Ozymandias as a king?(g) What message is conveyed through this poem?