Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ozymandias
This poem was written to the Egyptian kings. He writes:
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart…Near them on the sand
This description is of a statue of one of the kings of Egypt. Shelly traveled extensively and I am guessing he became interested in the kings of this ancient world. I think that in his day not all of the statues had been uncovered or were on display as they are now, and were only partly on view, which would explain how the statues seem to be in pieces from his description. I think that with the way he looked on life, feeling he was above certain things in society, he felt a kinship to royalty, making himself higher and more prominent than he actually was. I feel he could be talking about himself in this poem as well as the king of Egypt.
posted by jim @ 4:10 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Jim,
OK speculations, but not really correct ones. While Shelley traveled to Ireland and Italy, he never went to Egypt and only saw statues from there in the British Museum or in books. He also had extraordinarily negative views of monarchs, so I do not think it likely he is identifying with Ozymandias here. I think you would have been more successful here demonstrating closer attention to the words and images in the text, by quoting passages and by exploring them before moving on to unsupported speculation.
This post is ok. However, I think it would have been better if you quoted more lines and used them to back your claims.
Interesting that you think he could be referring to himself in this poem when he mentions Ramses. This is one poem that I actually like, because it seems to be a reminder that one's reputation is not what he should be working to build up, because it will one day become nothing; rather, one should pursue his own well-being.
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