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.’
sonnet · 1818
Ozymandias
The poem in plain English
What is happening?
A traveller describes the ruined statue of a ruler who boasted that his achievements would overwhelm all rivals. Nothing remains around it but empty desert.
Context
Shelley wrote the poem during renewed European interest in the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. It was first published in The Examiner in January 1818.
Ideas to follow
Form
sonnet · frame narrative. Reading level: Intermediate.