![]() Yet, it possesses a distinct ambiguity, having not only connotations of oldness and deterioration, but also, in certain cases, of great value. The word “antique” itself is inherently linked with this process. This leaves us detached from the subject at hand, resonating with the statue of Ozymandias, which is so detached from the former glory of the Pharaoh himself its remnants found only in stories of far-away lands told in chance meetings with strange men, filtered and diluted by the time it reaches us. Instead, the traveller is simply said to be from an “antique land” (1) mysterious and unknown distant from the reader in both knowledge and time. Though we know from the title of the poem that this is about the Pharaoh Ramesses II, Ozymandias being the Greek version of his name, Egypt is not explicitly mentioned. Distinctly vague, the speaker says that they “met a traveler from an antique land” (1). In keeping with the poem’s transgression from formal convention, Shelley opens the work in a relaxed and conversational tone. Furthermore, it is pertinent that these deviances become more frequent in the sestet as it focuses itself on the fall from power of Ozymandias: “King of Kings.” The deviations fail to allow the poem to securely fall into a consistent metre, reinforcing the aforementioned stilted nature of its poetic form. With two examples coming from the sestet in lines ten and twelve in the form of an extra syllable and the introduction of trochees in place of iambs. However, true to its fragmentation, it possesses deviances. As a whole, the poem falls into iambic pentameter as is expected of a sonnet. This mirrors the fact that the present is shaped by the past, just as the form of ‘Ozymandias’ has been influenced and therefore contains aspects of forms that have come before it. What is interesting is that Shelley subtly links the old with the new by carrying a rhyme from the octave into the sestet “things”, “kings”. To an extent, the rhyme scheme of ‘Ozymandias’ reflects this radical breakaway from conventional practice, as old rhymes are gradually replaced by new ones, however this is true of any Petrarchan sonnet. Thus, although ‘sonnets are noted for strict formal patterning’ (Williams 93), Shelley refuses to conform to the traditional conventions of either mode. ![]() But the remaining lines do not follow the rhyme scheme of either sonnet form. However, the first four lines of the poem use the Shakespearian rhyme scheme of ‘ABAB’. ![]() ‘Ozymadias’ is a Petrarchan sonnet in that it contains an octave and a sestet, and the transition between the two gives way to a volta. ![]() The poem also shifts speakers, which induces a change of place and time whilst also illuminating the ambiguous nature of the central image, the fallen statue of Ramesses II. ‘Ozymandias’ explores the negative effects of the hubris of man through the manipulation of the classic conventions of the sonnet form. We will look at a poem per week and will post essays throughout along the way! We hope that our blog can give way to a worldwide conversation on Shelley, so leave comments and if you are a tweeter, follow our twitter page poem ‘ Ozymandias’ (Which is arguably one of Percy Shelley’s most famous poems) Welcome to our new blog! We have created this space in order to discuss the works of the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. ![]()
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