Ozymandi-what? A Reading, Summary, and Analysis of Shelley's "Ozymandias"
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Ozymandias is a narrative sonnet about a traveler who found a broken statue of Ozymandias in the dessert. While initially quite confusing, the the poem shows Percy Shelley at his best: bringing low the ambitious dictators of the world.
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said-“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;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, 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.”
- 1818
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Probably my favorite poem of all time. No matter how great people have thought themselves, eventually, all that's left of all their mighty works is sand. A very humbling momento mori.
Such a great point. We can live out our lives a lot more meaningfully by keeping that truth in mind.
Also, I love the Irving reference.
Thank you so much for watching!
I totally agree, this poem is just too good. The message is solemn but true. Unus Annus..
Actually, the words on the pedestal were supposed to be Ramses' words, not the sculptors. Still, Ramses would look down on the sculptor, yet at least part of the sculptor's work outlasted Ramses' work.
@@susiehawes8966 the sculptor wrote Ramses/Ozymandias’ words lol.
Humbling indeed
I have known this poem all my life, but I didn't know that Ozymandias was a pharaoh. I thought he was probably fictional.
To me, the poem is about the ephemeral nature of human works, and the irrelevance of a huge ego. Nature reclaims all.
That is an excellent assessment. Thank you for sharing, Mike!
It is also recited by Michael Fassbinder’s character in Alien: Covenant.
I've always had a very different view of the poem: Ozymandias is immortalized by the very poem that is trying to "humble" him. Every retelling ensures his name lives on in the ages, far beyond any of his contemporaries. Who among us can name any of the other kings who reigned during his time?
Thank you for this analysis. Keep these analysis comming, really appreciate them
Thanks again for the kind comment! I'm hoping to have another video out tonight.
'Ozymandias' was the Greek name of 'Pharaoh Ramses II'. The colossal monument to the apparently self-styled 'King of Kings' has shattered, illustrating the precarious, transitory nature of his power. Ramses II = 1303 BC - 1213 BC (aged 90-91) {Reign: 1279-1213 BC}. Ramesses II is the most popular candidate, the most likely, for Pharaoh of The Holy Bible in the Book of Exodus, who dealt with Moses and GOD defeated. ~ The Image of "declaring you are the greatest" and then have nothing to show for it fits well and is the "moral lesson" of the poem. No one, not even a self-proclaimed "great king" is above GOD. ~ Thank You - Be Safe out there folks - Peace & Health to Us All.
I read 'mocked' in this poem differently, it follows after the description of a cold and hard man.
Gesticulating commands from his high place in a firm cold fashion could be considered mocking those under his command.
The self grandeur and the words used convey a man with little to no care for others.
The line about his heart also suggest this is what drives him.
The words on the pedestal confirm this too.
It just means created.
I have a literature exam tomorrow and unfortunately I wasn't able to pay attention in classes, I expected to see another boring explanation with words I dont understand but this is really impressive, I was easily able to understand, thanks man
Thank you so much for the kind feedback!
Best of luck on your exam tomorrow!!!
@@OxfordCommaEducation Thank you
@@iamabigfantom8421 Did you pass?
Fantastic poem. Really hits home how temporary any power is. Empires rise and fall and always will.
Really great video - English is my third language so I struggle with it every now and then, but your explanation was fascinating, easy to follow, and full of interesting details. Thank you Oxford Comma!
Glad it was helpful! Your English is fantastic by the way!
mf doom
The poem definitely says something about the power of mankind and how it is inherently destructive/evil/terrifying and those enslaved to it will eventually find freedom from it.
So true.
Thanks for putting up this video. I was quite intrigued by this poem after watching the movie watchmen which led to searching for the full version of the poem and here I am, finding this video immensely helpful in understanding the meaning behind it ! Many thanks 🙏
You're so welcome! I love when movies use poetry. Thank you for watching!
Another pop culture reference to Ozymandias is in Ridley Scott’s movie Prometheus
I first came across this poem while reading George R R Martin’s Fevre Dream way back in 80’s, probably one of the best vampire stories ever. I think what was being referred to was that nothing is permanent and everything including civilisations will eventually turn to dust!
I had no idea it was referenced in that. I'll have to check it out!
Great break down of the poem with historical references. Thank you!!
You're welcome! Thank you so much for watching!
Well.. why don't give the sculptor the benefit of the doubt and let him "mock/make fun of" Ramses in his depiction (frown, wrinkled lip, sneer)
Have a listen to Jean-Jacques Burnel (bassist from Brit Punk band The Strangler) singing this poem on the ‘B’ side of his 1979 Freddie Laker single. It’s brilliant.
I'm so glad something like this exists. Thank you for the recommendation!
Poetically articulated and with such grace and finess... Fell in love with this analysis... Lots of love and respect from my side...
Thank you so much for the incredibly generous feedback!
@@OxfordCommaEducation Great people and great things deserve great respect... What goes around, comes around... Pertinently, this is beyond any whiff of doubt that the analysis was stupendous and the delivered with due grace... or should I say 'Grace Abounding'
@@meditationandnature2500 Thank you so much, Aadil! I really do appreciate it.
One of Breaking Band’s best episodes
I am studying the first stage of an English section and I am Arab and I understand a little English I have to ask him and I hope you will answer me.
Thanks so much! This is much appreciated, keep up the amazing work!
You're very welcome! Thank you for watching!
What's complicated?
I heard this poem on Prometheus
I like much the alliterative emphasis in the parts ¨and sneer of cold command and ¨King of Kings¨. Showing the cruelty of Ozymandias. A nice hint to King George 3 during that time.
My favorite word in the whole poem is "things." So dismissive of the sculpture's past grandeur.
Thompson Dorothy Martin Richard Lopez Daniel
y’all the only reason i’m watching this is cause of his voice 😭
exactly😭😭🤝
Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias ymindian" the work of the artist is presented as inmortal Explain.
Can you help me for this question please? :/
imo it felt more like how no matter how great/significant you were, you'd still fall eventually to whatever reasons which ends mostly in death.
So for the poem, especially those rulers/bosses whom were egomaniacs/egoistical bastards who were dictatorial and enslaved people would just have their powers stripped away eventually and live in memory as assholes.
I'd say even at today's standards that this poem holds true when megacorporations and wealthy families that controls them would think they'd hold them forever when historically any Chinese dynasties and the Roman Empire that thought they'd rule forever still falls in the end as nothing but history.
It was recited again in a recent movie, where the guy was a cripple and Liam Neesom was like a carnival guy that traveled from town to town. It had a shocking twist though.
Did "appear" rhyme with "despair" and "bare" in Shelley's time?
loved the analysis of the poem as well as your voice 😄
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this! Glad it was helpful!
Time...the Conquerer.
This video is amazing. Exactly what I was looking for
I love this poem. Easily my favorite. The pure imagery that comes from the text is the strongest in my mind. Using the destroyed statue to represent the entirety of a kingdom, fallen and forgotten, and the sands of the desert to create the feeling of the passage of time since that kingdom's fall. Not to mention the hubris of a ruler, with just the statue. God, I love it
😊
You sound like Chris from Mr.Beast 🤣🤣🤣. But you have really helped me.. beautiful poem. Thank youu!
Oh no, my age is showing. I have no idea who that is, haha.
Thank you so much for the complement! Glad the video helped.
I first heard of this poem in "fever dream"
these legs are upon the sand ...where are these 2 legs as we now are led to believe as document that the sphinx at percys time were indeed half sunk xx
I really loved the way you put in all of the information and the way you analysed it appropriately I loved it and it made my concepts clear!! Its really gonna help me in my language summative! Thankyou so much man keep up the good work!!!!
Thank you so much for this comment! Best of luck on your studies!
I get goosebumps each time I come back to watch this video.
Also included in Alien Covenant.
All that is left are the legs and half a face. I will live on!
Ozymandias is a baby dragon 😁
Thank you very much! It was awesome.
You're very welcome!
Great sonnet! Nice analysis...!
Thank you!
Always assumed the poem was about mortality.
That it meant that eventually everyone will die..Even the king of kings. And that evidence of each us will corrode into sand in time.
What we are to do with that information I wasnt sure. But my guess is that the author meant
“don’t be arrogant. Be humble. Because as mortals none of us really matter.”
I named a kitten I got as a boy “Ozymandius” on advice from my brother. That’s why I always go back to this poem.
Kitten became a cat that’s been gone decades now. And my brother gone for many years.
The words ozymandius and even just Ozzy (which we called the cat) make me think how no one left alive even knows my cat ever lived ..accept me.
Then I think how it’ll be like he never even mattered when I finally die.
Guess he had the right name.
Ozzy was the best cat.
Thank you so much for sharing your insight and your story. I found it incredibly moving.
Just one thing I'd add. Just because something or someone won't be remembered doesn't mean their life lacked significance or meaning. None of us really know the ripples our time on this earth will create. Our society tends to focus on the bad, but I know many many people create a lot of good - even if they never get a chance to see it play out.
@@OxfordCommaEducation I wish I could believe that we are more than just the meat on our bones- but I don’t. I’ve always envied the religious… as gullible as I find them.
Surely we have affect after we died, but even that is temporary.
We’ve discover few Neanderthal bones and that’s a whole species.
As for ripples in time, I just don’t see it. Ultimately when our consciousness is gone we are just nothing. We may as well never have been. And then all evidence of us will became just Star dust collapsed into a black hole. The universe itself is thought to be expanding faster than it can pull back together and eventually the last light will go out for infinity.
I study the competing theories and often defend them- because I want to believe with every fiber of my being.
But I am like most prominent physicists..
The existence of life itself is just a cosmic accident. A lightning bolt struck a puddle in just the right way and after eons of evolution consciousness develops as an equally unlikely event. Apes that are smarter survived better than the ones that were less smart. Just out competed them. And one day on a monkey man realizes that he exists and dwells on it. Unfortunately for him he came to realize what I do. That nothing jr can ever do will matter. Because he and all he knows will soon be gone forever.
Denial leads him to his salvation. Which id where we get religion.
It’s this kind of talk which is why I stopped getting invited to parties.
I passed English 102 😁
Do the words My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings ect.? Actually appear on the remains of said Ramsay ll statue or did Shelley create the entirety of the poem? Shelly being a outspoken advocate of atheism, was he hoping the name of Christ Jesus would vanish over time?
That's a great question! I know that Shelley saw a specific statue (I think it's in the British Museum), but I don't know anything about it.
In terms of his view of religion, he was certainly radical, but I never got the sense that he wanted religion to vanish completely. I should add though, that I am not familiar with his personal letters, just his poetry.
The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus gave Shelley inspiration for the words attributed to Ramses/Ozymandias in Shelley's poem.
Siculus' work described a massive Egyptian statue which had the following inscribed: "King of Kings Ozymandias am I. If any want to know how great I am and where I lie, let him outdo me in my work."
Hope that helped!
Please answer me pleaaaasssee
Q1) what words tell us the statue was broken to pieces?
Q2)..... it is sculpter well those passions read. what passions?
Q3) whats the poet intantion?
Q1) half sank a "shattered visage lies....
Q2) the passions of the sculptor to build such a statue with the exact expressions depicting the emotions and that personality of the person
Q3) The poets intention is to help understand about how the sculptor found it important to build the statue perfectly and also about the personality of ozymandias
@@iamabigfantom8421 thank you so much
*those passions
Geez, the irony.
"I am the Greatest" & all there is left is a pair of legs. It was Ego & showing off? Thanks for sharing your ideas. You are a good teacher.
Thanks, this was the cringiest video title I have seen on YT.
Hey, if you and 38,000 other people clicked on it, then it's doing something right.
I 💓 Oxford Comma.
Tireless rendition to match a beguiling analysis.
Naming my kid ozymandius ‘ozzy’
I love that!
Thanks sir❤️
You're welcome!
Holy shit dawg epic video! The part with both Work and Wreck being capitalized is crazy
I am glad i found your channel. Its so good. I appreciate from heart♥️♥️
I am so moved by the voice, the way everything was neatly presented and how everything flowed with time. Please keep making ♥️♥️
Thank you so much! I'll be sure to have some more videos out soon :)
Very good summary but it lacks details on themes and style.i really appreciate it Weldon.
Excellent analysis.. Thumbs up
Much appreciated!
This was amazing thanks so much, I would love an analysis on Medusa by Carol Ann Duffy, and also one on Porphyria's lover Robert Browning ❤
Great suggestions! I'll add them to my list!
@@OxfordCommaEducation cool thanks so much!
Hey gang!!! They should start a new channel for stuff like this; Romantic Poetry For Dummies!
Thanks for the explanation....
You're welcome!
Who is the artist that made the video? I want to use it the info for my work cited page..
Oh wow, there now is an animation of this poem, even if it is about a Minecraft server, but I am surprised that there is still no one from its fandom
Is that what happened last weekend? The views on this video have been skyrocketing. Thank you Minecraft!
@@OxfordCommaEducation yeah! Sad-ist did a dream SMP animatic!
@@haileyen353 I just watched it. I'm a little confused lol, but the animation is incredible! I can see why it's getting those kinds of numbers.
@@OxfordCommaEducation The Animation is based off of a role play minecraft server that a ton of huge youtubers and streamers play on. It's way to complicated to explain it all but the animation is based off of a character "Wilbur" who built and ruled a city. However the city has been distroyed and is now a "colossal wreck". The animation channel's older videos might give you some more context if you care. Great video BTW!
@@alucard2832 It's always fascinating to see where poems show up. Who would have predicted that a piece written over two hundred years ago would be the basis of a Minecraft subplot?
Thanks for helping fill me in on what's going on!
You,are speaking very faaast😮😢
I'm sorry. This was before I learned how to edit, so everything had to be in one take. This was probably my 10th take that night. Thank you for checking out the video though!
@@OxfordCommaEducation tankyou so much🥰🍀
why do you complicate trunkless
..have to add not a Grammar Nazi x
and where are the legs in modern recorded history...unless shelley uses legs "2" of as the biggest of the pyramids and the fact there is three does not fit thememE
ffs ut centra
Thank you
No problem! Thanks for watching!
Ballads of Buster Scruggs
This Poem echoes that which was uttered by the sly serpent in the garden of eden, "ye shall be as gods". We all know how that ended.
Absolutely. That story has been codified into a lot of western culture.
I came here from Fate GO to learn about Ozymandias but I'll stay for that amazing voice
Thank you, Weed Goofy! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Can you answer in my question :
what is the effects of time? or what mean the efects of time
Effects time in this instance refers to erosion and decay.
Thanks for watching!
This reading is a fairly wide miss.
I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. How so exactly?
@@OxfordCommaEducation This too from below is wrong: "I read 'mocked' in this poem differently, it follows after the description of a cold and hard man. Gesticulating commands from his high place in a firm cold fashion could be considered mocking those under his command." "Them" in the poem refers back to "those passions," not the sculpted features on the visage (nor anyone Ozymandius commands) -- i.e., "the hand that mocked [those passions] and the heart that fed [those passions]." The parallelism there is straightforward. Ozymandius mocks with a dismissive flick of his hand any notion that he has any lowly human qualities (passions), which attitude, of course, is the source of his hubris. The sculptor did a good job depicting that in the sneer, yes, but there is no further emphasis on the sculptor.
I can see the "them" referring back to "those passions." But "mocked" is absolutely the more Shakespearean meaning I referenced in the video. However, like all great poets, Shelley is pulling extra meaning out oh his words.
This just shows how interpretative poetry is meant to be. The only problem is when we act like we alone have all the answers. If you can't recognize the danger in that attitude, then you're missing the main point of the poem.
Civ4
Great reference!
Hmmm. No.
It’s also in Prometheus
I totally forgot that I wanted to watch that movie! I might just have to do that now.
Give it a go 😋
It's alien covenant not Prometheus
@@jinkhazama4114 3 years ago, but good point ☝🏼. Mixed them up
Also mentioned in Alien Covenant
I did not know that! Very cool. Also kind of interesting because Shelly also wrote Prometheus Bond, which coincidently shares part of a title with another Alien film.
@@OxfordCommaEducation Ridley Scott must be a Shelly fan.
I haven't heard of Prometheus Bond. I'll have to look that up.
Actually when David recites these lines after the genoside of engineers.he is addressing ozymandias that he has outdone him
@@jinkhazama4114
I can definitely see that. That was a viscerally disturbing story for me -- very well done. I feel like it was underated.
@@IVespidI I came to this poem from the film not the other way round
im here from breaking bad
Thank you so much for this video.
You helped me A lot!
I have a very big exam tomorrow ... And this video helped me a lot
So...
Thank you so so much 😁😁😁
You're so welcome! Thank you for the kind feedback.
Best of luck on your exam!!
Im australian and manda ... ozy manda lol
Haha, this is your poem! Hope things turn out better for you than they did for Ozymandias.
Thanks for putting up this video. I was quite intrigued by this poem after watching the movie watchmen which led to searching for the full version of the poem and here I am, finding this video immensely helpful in understanding the meaning behind it ! Many thanks 🙏
You're very welcome! I'm always amazed at how many places this poem shows up.
@@OxfordCommaEducation keep up the great work you do mate. All the very best!
You could replace Ozymandias with the name Donald Trump...
Im not into writing, let alone poetry much, but i really like this.
Maybe im still in my /im15andthisisdeep phase, but this is deffinitely deep, and i love it.
I still find it deep in my early 30s. Outstanding poem.
A rather weak interpretation.
Hey idcook,
Sorry to hear you didn't like the video. Out of curiosity, what in the interpretation came off as weak?
Thanks for the feedback!
@@OxfordCommaEducation The moment I heard the word 'dictator' I could see that your entire view is a kind of reverse engineering of the work.
1- The actual inscription, while clearly conveying empiriousness, could as easily be understood as a kind of warning. Remember, besides being pharoah, Ramses II is, as well, an highly accomplished military leader. From that perspective the inscription could be understood to say “Consider what you’re confronting before attacking. It’s not going to be easy for you!”
2- Also based on the original inscription, again, while empirious in tone, also extends a challenge - “Do better than this if you can!”
3- Considering Shelly’s own life, a man high-born who gets himself laid low by his own folly and who never experiences recognition or literary success in his own time, might just as well be expressing a kind of compassion for the fallen potentate. The pretense that 'only art lasts' suggests that Shelly knew himself to be celebrated in a future he’ll never see.
4- Shelly, recognized as a pacifist in his own time, might not have been as quick to take a denigrating tone as many do now … Centuries after the fact.
Again, perhaps 'compassion' toward the foibles of all mankind is his message.
5- Being regarded an unchallenged 'eternal god-king' in ancient Egypt would not be unusual for either Ramses himself or the populace of Egypt in general at that time. This was a rather commonly held view by many nations in the ancient past. Including Rome and Greece. Thus, it would not be unusual for Ramses to express himself in this manner.
Finally, the idea of 'dictator' wasn’t quite how he would’ve been regarded in either his own or Shelly’s time. Despot, perhaps, but only with the understanding that he would be within his right to act as he pleases. All would simply prefer and hope for rulers of wisdom and benevolence.
So, IMO, to leap to 'dictator' appears to cast our own perspectives as primary regarding the intents of the poem as well as the mind and spirit of its’ author.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I see what you're saying, but you're pretty far off track on a number of points.
First, Shelley was enormously famous during his lifetime (he married the daughter of two famous writers and was best friends with the western world's first celebrity).
Second, he despised those with absolute power (see England in 1819). And he saw it as a poet's responsibility to be a "legislator of the world."
In terms of the semantics, I agree that the term "dictator" would not have been used, specifically. But I have a personal policy of calling out those who enslave and oppress others for what they are.
@@OxfordCommaEducation Shelly did not achieve widespread popular 'literary' fame during his lifetime. That he married relatives of his friends and family members doesn’t in any way translate to his being 'enormously' famous then. Appreciation of his work increased his fame after his death.
Of course there is the matter of - following a falling out with his father (a member of Parliament no less) - the fact that he received an allowance that more or less allowed him to live free of the common concerns of livelihood. As was the case for at least one of his wives as well.
Even so, he seems to have suffered a period where he sought desperately to escape his debts.
None of this is quite the stuff of enormous success.
So far as 'dictator' goes, I can only assume that you’re using one the most questionable sources of history known to exist. Of course there are other 'contemporary' accounts of the events offered by Egypt as well as several surrounding nations. All of which cite several points barely grazed upon in that source -
That the 'put upon for who they were' were actually put upon for having conducted themselves as fifth columnists during a recently overcome grievous period for the nation.
A view, extended to him by a trusted military commander, that he had allowed a kind of sentimentality to lead him to overlook. A sentimentality toward one of the put upon for who they were who, by some strange chance of fate, had been neither enslaved nor mistreated but, in fact, had nearly as strong a hand in the seat of his very own authority.
That, these supposed put upon for who they were, themselves, were never actually enslaved but largely involved in the same works as many others in the period. Building tombs, monuments and such. Construction workers who were paid! That, apart from these, many of the put upon for who they were had long functioned freely throughout the society as merchants, shop-keepers, artisans, etc.
It is understood that his kingdom had in fact been a rather cosmopolitan environment. With people from many other nations living and working there without suffering any abuse at the hand of state whatsoever.
So that the eviction and much heralded chase scene are better understood as a kind of act of political prudence - “psst … Hey Ram! It might be unwise to allow people who had been afforded access even to the highest functions of the state and appeared to have used that awareness to curry favor with the, finally overthrown enemy, to simply walk away. When did your military chop become so slack? Are you nuts or what? Lets go get ’em before they try to help someone else to overthrow the kingdom!”
Of course Shelly despised royalty. He rather 'despised' a lot of people that he regarded as being in positions of authority. He certainly hated the people who threw him out of school for cowering from admitting he’d had a hand in scandalising members of clergy.
LOL … He fell out with his own father!
The guy just doesn’t seem to have liked the idea of anyone being more important than himself or having any say in his life at all!
All that aside … In light of Shelly’s own views on the subject of religion (he was an atheist), I find it mildly amusing that that source would be used to define history at all much less Ramses II in particular.
Omg love this synthesis 💖
Thank you for watching!
Very poorly read in an extremely annoying nasally whine, devoid of any depth or feeling.
I mean back then I was still learning how to use the mic and had no editing software, so I had to get each video in one take (pretty sure I restarted this one about a dozen times before settling on this one). But despite all that, it's still closing in on 15k. Thanks for helping it get there!
Shelly’s Ozymandias is also partially recited in the film Alien: Covenant.
Another pop culture reference, when you research Construction in Civ 4. If you want to hear a piece of this poem read by Leonard Nimoy
Civ is such a clever franchise. This poem being in one of the games doesn't surprise me at all. Thank you for sharing!
what is the legacy of ozymandias?
A whole lot of sand.