Summary
English Lit: AQA GCSE Poetry - Power & Conflict, topic 1.1.1
Ozymandias Summary
Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias describes the narrator's meeting with a traveller from a foreign land.
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.
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.
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.
Test yourself on Summary
What is Ozymandias another name for?
Who wrote Ozymandias?
Which of these are true about Shelley?