Note by Muhammad Azam, Shaheen Academy, G-6/1-3, Islamabad.

1. Ozymandias
I met a traveler 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,
Reference: These verses have been taken form the poem /sonnet “Ozymandias”
which is written by P.B Shelly.
Context: In this masterful sonnet, P.B Shelly has portrayed the picture of a
shattered, ruined statue in the desert wasteland, with its arrogant passionate face and
the desolate reality of his own life. The once-great king’s proud boast has been
ironically condemned; Ozymandias’ works have crumbled and ceased to work. His
civilization is gone and the pride and power of kingdom has turned to dust by the
impersonal, indiscriminate, destructive power of history. As every pride hath a fall
and man is nothing before his birth /death. There is no use of being proud of the
position, wealth or fame in this temporal world as his life is unreliable and he has to
leave sooner or later. This fact must be acknowledged by everyone in this world.
Explanation: In this stanza the poet narrates his meeting with a traveller form a
remote -historic land, who tells him about the ruins of a statue in the desert of his
native country. The two vast legs of stone without body, and near them a massive,
crumbling stone head lies half sunk in the sand. The traveller tells the poet that the
frown and sneer of cold command on the statue’s face indicate an air of authority
and arrogance. The account of his rise and fall is the outcome of shift of fortune. The
Statue symbolizes not only political power ---the statue can be a metaphor for the
pride and hubris of all humanity, in any of its manifestations. The poet admires the
art, which injected a lot of passion into lifeless things.
Stanza 2.
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 upon 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.
Explanation: In this stanza or verses the poet says that the statue is the man, who
sneered with contempt for those weaker than himself, yet he fed his subject because
of something in his heart. A message was inscribed on the pedestal or stand on
which this broken statue was erected. He introduces himself as Ozymandias—the
king of kings. Ironically, all his feelings of pride and prosperity are nothing more
than illusion and self-deception. The statue’s pride of his worldly position, wealth or
fame in this temporal world has reduced to rubble as it stands alone and shattered in
the desert, half sunken in sand.