For this week’s blog post I chose to focus on “Ozymandias”. Upon first reading this poem it really caught my eye because of how the structure feels more like a story than a poem due to the speaking of the traveler in quotation marks. After reading the poem a few times and doing some background research this unique structure started to make sense to me. Ozymandias, who the poem is about, was actually the Greek name of a pharaoh. To me this put into perspective what the message of the poem might be about. The storytelling structure made me feel as though the poem was about the legacy of this pharaoh and how long it lasts, just as stories are told over and over again.
I found that the poem reveals a not so favorable image of the Pharaoh. The traveler describes the statue of the pharaoh as “two vast and trunkless legs” as well as a “half sunk a shattered visage”. I found this descriptive imagery to reveal a theme of fleeting power. Normally statues are meant to be an ode to their subject. The fact that the poem describes the statue as crumbled and in shambles reveals the little respect and legacy that is left of the pharaoh. I believe that this imagery is employed to reveal that power inevitably crumbles. In addition, I think that the sand that the statue’s face is “sunk” into is also a symbol of how power is fleeting overtime. The description of sand in the poem brought to mind both the changing patterns of sand dunes overtime and the passage of time in a sand hourglass. I believe that the sand is meant to symbolize the loss of the Pharaohs’ power overtime.
Finally, I think the last four lines of the poem further reveal this theme of fleeting power. Ozymandias says, “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”. I interpreted this line to be an exclamation coming from Ozymandias to look at everything his mighty power had created. However, the traveler reveals that everything that surrounds the statue is “boundless and bare”. Essentially the pharaoh boasts of his legacy when truly nothing remains. This is revealing of the arrogance that comes with power.
Ozymandias
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It was really interesting to hear your interpretation of this poem. I loved how you talked about Ozymandias’s boastful exclamation and then compared it to the dismal remains of the statue. There is clear juxtaposition between “what was” and “what is” but also between the fantasy that Ozymandias created when he was in power compared to the reality of his insignificance. He proclaimed his immortality against the longevity of time, yet readers are able to look upon the destroyed remains of his statue and ridicule him for his ignorant beliefs. It is clear in this poem that time will win against all, but your blog seems to open the door to the idea that time also has the power to mock all.
Ashyln, I like how you explain the juxtaposition of “what was” and “what is” and the idea of a constructed reality that each of us creates for ourselves in order to give meaning to our lives.
Fiona, I also really like how you point out the juxtaposition of sand surround this crumbling statue, as the stone disintegrates into the landscape around it. I think it is kind of beautiful how fleeting and insignificant the poem makes Ozymandias seem. It takes away his perceived power and high status that he had during his lifetime, reminding us of our innate spiritual equality as humans.
I loved your depiction of Ozymandias, and how you point out how what was likely commissioned as an ode has, with time, become something that points out the negative aspects of Ramses. I think this speaks, in part, to the power of the artist that made the sculpture, as they were able to create something that Ramses would have approved of (since it was actually put up), but that also could be seen by others as a clue as to his violence and lack of care for civilian lives.