“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings; / Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!” ( 10) requires the pedestal of the statue of the previously named former ruler Out of context, a casual passerby of the broken sculpted likeness of the king could infer that Ozymandias was a powerful presence in the region and that he dominated not only its lands. faithful subjects, but abstract concepts like time and death In context, knowing that his statue is now mostly rubble, abandoned and forgotten in the desert, we can recognize that it is Ozymandias who is in fact the one. ruled by time The speaker encounters an anonymous traveler who tells of Ozymandias' reign long ago, a legend contradicted by the ruined statue the speaker stumbled upon in the desert. highlights this theme in the poem through the use of provocative diction and juxtaposition. of different things, communicating to the reader that nothing is permanent and that everything is ultimately lost due to the stubborn march of time. Say No to Plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get. original essayFirst, through the use of diction, Shelley presents Ozymandias as a concept of monarchical power and glory. This pays off later in the poem when the reader realizes that even the mighty Ozymandias is powerless against time, reinforcing the assertion that time masters us all. For example, Shelley chooses, in the first line, to describe the desert where the statue of Ozymandias lies in ruins as an “ancient land”. This attaches to Ozymandias the connotations of the word ancient, particularly the idea that something ancient has additional value over its less historical counterparts. This gives the character of Ozymandias a certain royalty and historical value. It is in these first lines of the poem that the speaker draws on the image of a powerful Ozymandias, which is then reinforced by the choice of the word "face" in the fourth line to describe the king's facial features. Although the face is "half-cast" and "broken" (4), the elitist nature that the word face evokes gives the reader a glimpse of Ozymandias' royal pomp. Although the speaker admits that this is not the case today and that the destruction of the statue is more relevant in this era, this depiction of a once powerful king reinforces the weight of his fall. If the great Ozymandias is now in ruins, we are truly powerless in the face of time. The speaker gives a final glimpse of what Ozymandias was like as a king, when he describes the "wrinkled lip," the "frown," and the "sneer of cold command" (4-5) that remain in the sculptor's representation of Ozymandias. . Here it is revealed that not only was Ozymandias powerful, but he was also particularly cruel in the subjugation of his people. This choice to describe Ozymandias as cruel rather than benevolent inspires the imagery of a reign without control and where all the anger of the king could be exercised. Compared to his current state in the desert, where his image is nothing but broken remains, this is a significant change in characterization, and it supports the speaker's assertion that even the most powerful and the most dominant will fall into the hands of the master of time. , there is a juxtaposition of Ozymandias as a powerful ruler and Ozymandias as the abandoned remains of a statue. So even though there is diction that describes Ozymandias as a powerful force in his reign, the choice of words that contradicts thisidea is equally important for the overall meaning. For example, in line 12, the broken remains of his statue are described as “rot.” The connotation of the word rot with dying plant or animal matter is an obvious change from the Ozymandias who sported a "sneer of cold command" (5). The result is that if Ozymandias' memory is that of an active man and even if he is a possibly abusive ruler, his current state turns out to be in complete contradiction with it, because the rubble of his statue remain idly in the desert. All that remains of Ozymandias at this point is his "frown," his "wrinkled lip," and his "sneer" (4-5), but even these lose their meaning because they have been " printed on [this] lifeless [thing]. (7). Describing the carving process as stamping has a connotation of a quick imprint instead of a careful chiseling process, but a possible distinct meaning is just as important. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, another meaning of stamp is "to quench or destroy by or as in striking with the foot – usually used without the foot." Perhaps this added meaning was unintentional, but in the context of the poem it is not unreasonable to view this word choice as a conscious signal of the extinction of Ozymandias and his memory through walking always constant in time. Diction is important in revealing this theme, but it is the juxtaposition of the diction describing Ozymandias as a ruler and the remains of his abandoned statue that highlight the contrast between Ozymandias' power and passivity before and after his disappearance over time. The juxtaposition of the poem is found in lines 10-12, following the description on the pedestal of his statue “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings; / Look at my works, you mighty ones, and despair! with "Nothing else remains", referring to the barren desert where the statue of Ozymandias was abandoned. This serves to contrast the two competing narratives that are the basis of the poem: that Ozymandias was an energetic and powerful ruler but is now alone and in ruins, entirely lost to the world. However, throughout the poem other juxtapositions serve to emphasize the theme in the same way. Another example can be seen in lines 4-7 with "Half-sunken is a broken face, whose frown,/and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,/say its sculptor reads well these passions/which still survive, stamped on these lifeless things.” The juxtaposition of words and phrases such as "frown" (4) and "cold command sneer" (5) that describe Ozymandias as cruel and domineering in his reign, with the description of his statue as a "[thing ] lifeless” (7) and his “broken” face (4) once again serves to reinforce these two competing representations of Ozymandias as powerful and powerless. Juxtaposition is not only used to compare these two ideas of his character, but is also used to contrast other aspects of his character. Ozymandias. This is used in line 8 with “The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed them”; where Ozymandias' cruelty and benevolence are juxtaposed as part of the development of Ozymandias' characterization as a leader. Juxtaposition is also used to establish setting. In line 13, "From this colossal wreck, boundless and bare/The lonely, flat sands stretch far away," the rubble is juxtaposed with the lonely desert in which it had been lost. This reinforces Ozymandias' defeat and abandonment by time, and supports the theme of lack of permanence.