- Action, Linking, and Auxiliary Verb: Definitions, Functions, and Examples
- Correct Use of Verbs
- Correct Use of Preposition
- Present Perfect vs. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
- Uses of Articles (A, An, The)
- Active and Passive Voice
- Indefinite and Definite Articles: Definition and Examples
- Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives
- Comparison of Adjectives & Adverbs: Examples, Sentences & Exercises
- Adjectives
- Irregular Verbs with Examples
- Modal Auxiliary Verb
- Use of Modal Verbs
- Compound Antecedents: Definition & Examples
- What is an Antecedent? Definition, Meaning & Examples
- What Are Collective Nouns?
- What Are Possessive Nouns? Examples, Definition & Types
Comprehensive English: Sentence Structure: Understanding Grammar
- Parts of Speech
- Degree of Comparison
- Difference Between Direct & Indirect Objects in Sentence Structure
- Gerunds: Are They Verbs? Are They Nouns?
- Conjunction vs. Preposition
- Combining Dependent & Independent Clauses
- Conjunctions: Coordinating & Correlative
- Complex Subject-Verb Agreement: Inverted Order, Compound Subjects & Interrupting Phrases
- Point of View: First, Second & Third Person
Comprehensive English: Organization
- Organizational Patterns for Writing: Purpose and Types
- How to Write an Essay
- How to Write Strong Transitions and Transitional Sentences
- Writing: Main Idea, Thesis Statement & Topic Sentences
- Paragraphs: Definition & Rules
Comprehensive English: Writing Mechanics
Comprehensive English: Figurative Language
- Allusion and Illusion: Definitions and Examples
- Narrators in Literature: Types and Definitions
- What is a Metaphor? Examples, Definition & Types
Comprehensive English: Writing Assessment Tools & Strategies
- Qualities of Good Assessments: Standardization, Practicality, Reliability & Validity
- Forms of Assessment
- Self-Assessment in Writing: Definition & Examples
- How to Set a Grading Rubric for Literary Essays
- Standard Score: Definition & Examples
- Raw Score: Definition & Explanation
- How to Create a Writing Portfolio
Comprehensive English: Effective Listening & Speaking
Comprehensive English: Developing Word Identification Skills
English: Class 6 : Honey Suckle
- The Banyan Tree
- Desert Animals
- A Game of Chance
- Fair Play
- Who I Am
- A Different Kind of School
- An Indian-American Woman in Space: Kalpana Chawla
- How the Dog Found Himself a New Master
- Who Did Patrick’s Homework
English: Class 6 : Poem
English: Class 6 : A Pact with the sun
- A Strange Wrestling Match
- What Happened to the Reptiles
- A Pact with the Sun
- The Wonder Called Sleep
- The Monkey and the Crocodile
- Tansen
- The Old Clock Shop
- The Shepherd’s Treasure
- The Friendly Mongoose
- A Tale of Two Birds
English: Class 7 : Honeycomb
English: Class 7: Alien Hand
- An Alien Hand
- A Tiger in the House
- The Bear Story
- Chandni
- I Want Something in a Cage
- Golu Grows a Nose
- The Cop and the Anthem
- The Desert
- Bringing Up Kari
- The Tiny Teacher
English: Class 7: Poem
- Garden Snake
- Meadow Surprises
- Dad and the Cat and the Tree
- Mystery of the Talking Fan
- Trees
- Chivvy
- The Shed
- The Rebel
- The Squirrel
English: Class 8: Honey Dew
- The Great Stone Face II
- The Great Stone Face I
- A Short Monsoon Diary
- A Visit to Cambridge
- This is Jody’s Fawn
- The Summit Within
- Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory
- Glimpses of the Past
- The Best Christmas Present in the World
English: Class 8: Poem
English: Class 8: It so happened
- Ancient Education System of India
- The Comet — II
- The Comet — I
- Jalebis
- The Open Window
- The Fight
- The Treasure Within
- The Selfish Giant
- Children At Work
English: Class 9: Beehive
- Kathmandu
- If I were You
- The Bond of Love
- Reach for the Top
- Packing
- My Childhood
- The Snake and the Mirror
- A Truly Beautiful Mind
- The Sound of Music
- The Fun They Had
English: Class 9: Poem
English: Class 9: Moments
- A House Is Not a Home
- The Last Leaf
- Weathering the Storm in Ersama
- The Happy Prince
- In the Kingdom of Fools
English: Class 10: First Flight
- The Proposal
- The Sermon at Banaras
- Madam Rides the Bus
- Mijbil the Otter
- Glimpses of India
- The Hundred Dresses - II
- The Hundred Dresses - I
- From the Diary of Anne Frank
- Two Stories about Flying
- Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom
- A Letter to God
English: Class 10: Poem
English: Class 10: Foot prints
English: Class 10: Supplementary : Prose
English: Class 10: Supplementary: Poetry
English: Class 11:Hornbill
- Silk Road
- The Adventure
- The Browning Version
- The Ailing Planet: the Green Movement’s Role
- Landscape of the Soul
- Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues
- We’re Not Afraid to Die..if We Can All Be Together
- The Portrait of a Lady
English: Class 11: Supplementary
- The Tale of Melon City
- Birth
- The Ghat of the Only World
- Albert Einstein at School
- Ranga’s Marriage
- The Address
- The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse
English: Class 11: Poem
- 2Ajamil and the Tigers
- Ode to a Nightingale
- Felling of the Banyan Tree
- Refugee Blues
- For Elkana
- Hawk Roosting
- Mother Tongue
- The World is too Much With Us
- Telephone Conversation
- Coming
- Let me Not to the Marriage of True Minds
- The Peacock
English: Class 12: Prose
- Going Places
- The Interview
- Poets and Pancakes
- Indigo
- The Rattrap
- Deep Water
- Lost Spring
- The Last Lesson
English: Class 12: Supplementary
Introduction
The poem Ozymandias is one of the most famous creations of P.B. Shelly. This is a poem about the temporariness of human pfe. A traveller tells the story of a stone statue that he interacted with in the desert. The statue was of the famous king Ozymandias. He was the most powerful king of his time. This poem shows that no matter how powerful a person is or how magnificent a statue is, it all will eventually fall but the stories and art will pve forever.
Summary
The poet meets a traveller who had come from the old land. The traveller tells the poet about his adventures. He tells the story of a stone statue that he found in the middle of the desert. The statue was destroyed and only the legs were left. He then saw the face of the statue laying some distance away from the legs. The statue was in the middle of now where in the desert. There once used to be a big empire and great monuments. The inscription on the statue tells that it was a statue of the great king Ozymandias. The inscription says that he was king of kings and a very powerful king. The inscriptions were directed to all the other kings who came after him and claimed that none of them could reach the heights of glory as the Ozymandias reached. but the traveller found that hard to bepeve as, the statue and all the glory of that great kingdom were destroyed by nature. There were only ruins to support the claims of Ozymandias.
The traveller praises the sculptor as he had accurately depicted the egoistic and arrogant face of the king in the sculpture. The engravings on the sculpture made no sense now. The inscriptions were written to show the glory and greatness of Ozymandias but all of it is lost to nature.
The poet thinks about the irony of the situation. They had engraved the statue to show his greatness and to show to other kings his power and glory. But over time, all the glory and monuments were destroyed and the only thing that remains are the engravings.
This shows that the materials in the world are one day destroyed but the only thing which is not affected by time is arts and stories.
Conclusion
The above poem is written by P.B Shelly. In this poem, the author has tried to show that no matter how powerful a person becomes and no matter how much wealth and glory he acquires, he cannot become immortal and that glory will not last forever. Nature is the true enemy of monuments and glorious statues. The author tries to convey that only one thing which can be saved from the brute force of nature is art. Arts in forms of stories and tradition will flourish for generations.
Questions and Answers
Q. "The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed." Whose hand and heart has the poet referred to in this pne?
Ans. The heart refers to the King’s heart whose sculpture was made. The hand refers to the hand of the sculpture.
Q. "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings". Why does Ozymandias refer to himself as King of Kings? What quapty of the king is revealed through this statement?
Ans. Ozymandias refers to himself as the king of kings because he was the most powerful king of his time, and it shows the powerful and arrogant nature of the king.
Q. "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Who is Ozymandias referring to when he speaks of ye Mighty? Why should they despair?
Ans. Ozymandias is talking to other rulers who came after him. He is telpng them to despair because they cannot be as great as he was.
Q. Bring out the irony in the poem.
Ans. The poem shows the irony of Ozymandias and other rulers pke him, but it also shows the irony of temporariness of humanity. The sculptor and Ozymandias thought of his creation to last forever but it was the story and tales of the travellers that lasted longer.
Q. Nothing beside remains. What does the narrator mean when he says these words?
Ans. The narrator wants to say that humanity is bound by time and every pfe and every creation will be extinct one day.
Q. What is your impression of Ozymandias as a king?
Ans. Ozymandias was a very powerful, boastful and arrogant ruler. He was the most powerful king of his time.
Q. What message is conveyed through this poem?
Ans. This poem explains the ultimate truth of human pves, that nothing is permanent. Everything in this world is time-bound and not immortal. However, the poet also conveys the power of art, which can outpve its creators and becomes immortal.
FAQs
Q. What are the major teachings we acquire from this poem?
Ans. Some of the most important things we learn from this poem is that one should not be egoistic and arrogant about his power and glory, because material things do not last forever and they will end one day.
Q. Who was Ozymandias?
Ans. Ozymandias was a very powerful king in old Egypt. His original name was Ramesses. He called himself the king of kings.
Q. What was the condition of the statue when the traveller found it?
Ans. The traveller found the broken statue. The upper body of the statue was missing and only the legs were on the ground. The head was fallen near the statue.