Outline Thesis: A poem about the ravages of time and the fallibility of human power, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” exemplifies the use of irony, imagery, and symbolism.

I. Context

A. Shelley wrote “Ozymandias” during the period known as Romanticism.

B. Context has an important role to play in poetry due to the cultural and historical implications of the symbols and imagery used in “Ozymandias.”

C. The Romantic era hearkened to an idealized past, with special affection for ancient civilizations, which is why Shelley uses imagery of ancient Egypt in “Ozymandias.”

II. Themes

A. Although brief, “Ozymandias” is a complex poem with interlocking and layered themes related to time, power, and identity.

B. One of the main themes of Shelley’s poem is the passage of time, and how people from different eras perceive reality differently.

C. Another main theme of “Ozymandias” is the fallibility and fleeting nature of authoritarian power in human societies, symbolized by the crumbled statue of a King.

III. Irony, Symbolism, and Imagery

A. Irony, symbolism, and imagery converge in “Ozymandias,” creating a cohesive poetic whole.

B. The poem is ironic because of the juxtaposition of the King’s certainty of his own power with he is now just a “colossal wreck,” (line 14).

C. The poem is also ironic because of the juxtaposition of eternity, represented by imagery of the “yet surviving” (line 7) statue and the “boundless” (line 13)sands, and temporality, represented by the decay.

Conclusion: With imagery of the eternal sands of time, into which the man-made statue crumbles, Percy Bysshe Shelley captures the ironic nature of human power and history.

Shelley’s “Ozymandias”: Irony, Imagery, and Symbolism

In “Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley...

The poem was penned in the Romantic era in England, a historical and cultural context that captures the prevailing interest in ancient civilizations. After all, the poem is about a traveler “from an antique land,” who tells the story about a crumbled statue of an ancient King who was once powerful (line 1). In relaying this story, the narrator offers a frame narrative about meeting the traveler and hearing about the statue second hand. The imagery used to describe the statue is important because it reflects both the main themes of “Ozymandias.” Those themes include the passage of time and the fleeting, ephemeral nature of human power. The king whose statue is in question was once all-powerful and had commissioned whole cities; and yet nothing of those cities remains. Even though the sculptor offered tribute to the King, it is as if modern human beings are laughing, “mocking” just as the sculptor might have done all those centuries ago (line 8). Imagery of sand, sandstone, and the crumbling statue also creates the irony that is central to Shelley’s poem. The King’s memory does indeed live on, told through the traveler’s tale and also through the narrator’s lips and the poem itself. Yet the King was wrong to assume that onlookers would “despair” at the sight of his grandiosity (line 11). A poem about the ravages of time and the fallibility of human power, Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” exemplifies the use of irony, imagery, and symbolism.
Context matters in poetry, and indeed in all literature, providing the cultural and historical zeitgeist that aids in interpretation and understanding (Glenn & Gray, 2019). In “Ozymandias,” the context is the Romantic era: a time in which poets and painters alike sentimentalized the ancient and natural worlds. The use of imagery and symbols related to ancient Egypt is therefore fitting for a poem written in the Romantic era. Moreover,…