Ozymandias

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)



I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor  well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

34 sec read
1,073

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABACADEDFEGHGH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 623
Words 116
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

All Percy Bysshe Shelley poems | Percy Bysshe Shelley Books

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2 Comments
  • robertrad2021
    Brilliant!
    LikeReply5 months ago
  • jim.rainey
    What brilliant, lyrical irony. I have read this poem a hundred times and still am baffled by one line: "The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed."
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"Ozymandias" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29194/ozymandias>.

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Quiz

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"She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies."
A Percy Bysshe Shelley
B John Keats
C William Wordsworth
D Lord Byron