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Ozymandias (Imagery (The statue of Ramses II- the fact it's broken…
Ozymandias
Meaning
Power of nature- Shelley concentrates on how humans connect to nature and how we relate to the world.
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Power of the human mind- emotions: underlies the impulses that influence how we think and feel.
This is evident through the skill of the sculptor
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Imagination works alongside our senses and it's responsible for how we interpret the world and how we react to circumstances.
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Process of memory- he founded comforting to know that emotions don't disappear but through memory it can be relived.
Ozymandias- reflecting on the past of the dictatorship. Yet the poem is about remembrance of the kingdom.
Through his poem Shelley has reminded us of Ozymandias- and this is a message to the governement at the time.
Imagery
The statue of Ramses II- the fact it's broken suggest that tyranny is a temporary state. It is also symbolic of decasy of civilisation and culture.
The statue is a piece of art- now the statue and it's creator are destroyed, as all living things are destroyed at some point.
Inscription of statue- 'look at my works' is a boast that the King cannot live upto. His statue has been eroded by desert wasteland and history.
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Crumbling statue- 'colossal wreck' the political system is overbearing and driven by wealth and self importance.
Endurance of art- The staue symbolises art's ability to capture emotions. Even on stone. Art outlasts the artist. The sculptor was gifted and this is a paradox as passions give life to the stone and these passions have survived through time.
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Language Techniques
Enjambement- the breaks in a narrative are similar to that of unnatural speech. This make sthe poem seem like a story.
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Use of dialogue- makes us aware of the narrative distance between us and eyewitness of the statue. It also conveys a sense of expression
Ellipses- the speaker may have forgotten certaina aspects. It makes us question what and why are we being told.
Alliteration- 'cold command' adds to the expression of the poem. Allows the ruler to hear the cruelty of the ruler. Sarcastic and full of irony.
Effect
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Breaking the conventional structure of a sonnet shows how Shelley is frustrated with authority. He deliberately ignores the rules of the overall strcuture to show that the system of authority on the surface is one of strength and power but when you look closely, it is flawed.
The effect of the distance between us and the King has the same effect as time itself. Making the King powerless.
Context
In his early poetry, Shelley describes the natural spirit as 'spirit of beauty' in his poem Mont Blanc.
When King George III was on the throne, Shelley wanted to overthrow an authoritarian ruler. Hence, this is a message to the government reminding that if things don't change they would have to expect the same fate.
traditional Romantic era idea of everlasting art; how humans are ephemeral, but art is forever.
Strcuture
It's a petrarchan sonnet- usually it's divide into two separate sections: the octave provides a question and the sestet provides an answer.
Breaks the conventional petrarchen sonnet- uses an element of Shakesperean sonnet as evident in the alternate rhyme scheme for the first four lines.
Sonnet doesn't feel complete or ordered- as Shelley merges the rhyme schemes together rather than having complete breaks.
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Changing use of sonnet form shows how power is constantly changing, it's transcient and doesn't stay in one place as OZymandias hoped.
The sonnet is framed as a story- this provides a distance between the reader and Ozymandias. As we are seeing the statue through the eyes of the traveller.