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Summary

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Ozymandias Summary

Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias describes the narrator's meeting with a traveller from a foreign land.

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Summary

  • A narrator describes his meeting with a traveller from a foreign land.
  • This traveller told him a story about finding the shattered remains of an ancient statue of a king in the desert.
  • The inscription beneath the statue indicates that the king was arrogant, proud and boastful.
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Title

  • ‘Ozymandias’ is another name for a famous ancient Egyptian Pharaoh – Ramses II – a successful warrior and builder.
  • He was considered to be one of the most powerful Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.
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Shelley

  • Shelley was a Romantic poet and published Ozymandias in 1818.
  • Shelley was radical politically and disapproved of the British monarchy.
    • You could argue that this poem is a criticism of wielding (having and using) power in an undemocratic way and ruling as a tyrant.

Jump to other topics

1Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

2London - William Blake (1757-1827)

3Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

4Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

5War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

6My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

7The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

8Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

9Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

10Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

11Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

12The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

13Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

14Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

15Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

16Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

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