Ozymandias
...n’t mean immortality, the king who seemed to think that his kingdom would remain under his statue’s haughty gaze forever, ironically teaches us this through his epitaph. "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"(11) Becomes good advice, though in an opposite meaning than the king intended, for it comes to mean that despite all the power and might one acquires in the course of their life, material possessions will not last forever. In the end, the King’s "works" are nothing, and the lines inscribed upon his statue are a sermon to those who read it. This is a poem about art. Shelley used imagery and a very impressive ironical way to write this poem. Basically, the poem is divided into two parts; the first eight lines are describing an ancient decayed sculpture seen by a traveler. The last six lines however talk about the words on the pedestal and the desolate surroundings; he contrasts the great sculpture with the surrounding emptiness, which gave a stronger feeling about the poem. In Shelley’s work, it described the visage "sneer of cold command"(5). From this you can imagine a very conceited, arrogant pharaoh, commanding his people building this great vast statue hoping his power would be immortality. And when this great piece of work is done, he demanded to put such words on the pedestal: ‘"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look at my works, ye Mighty and despair!"’(10-11). Ozymandias seemed to think that as long as his sculpture was there, his kingdom would last forever. But according to this poem, after hundreds and thousands of years, the only thing left is sand and the rotting and decaying sculpture. Shelley wrote, " Nothing beside remains"(line, 12) after the words " Look at my works,"(11). This is really sarcastic because the prior sentence was just talkin...