Ozymandias

Questions for Discussion and Writing

1. Describe the form and structure of the poem. Does it have a specific meter, and if so, what is it? Does it have a rhyme scheme, and if so, what is it? How is the poem structured in terms of lines and stanzas? Does it belong to a specific category of poem? Do these structural aspects of the poem contribute to its effect in any way?

2. Read the poem aloud. What sound devices can you identify? How would you describe their effect?

3. What does it mean that the legs of stone are “trunkless” (line 2)?

4. What things did the sculptor of the statue “read” (line 6), and how do they “survive” (line 7)? (Note that line 6 does not follow typical English syntax.) What do you think the “hand” and “heart” are (line 8)? In what sense might they “mock” and “feed,” and what rhetorical device is this an example of?

5. Who are the words on the pedestal addressing (lines 9-11), and what is their message? How might this audience “despair” in a different way than the words imply?

6. What contrast(s) does the speaker draw between the statue’s original form and its current state? How is it significant that “nothing beside remains” (line 12) and that the sands around it are “boundless and bare” (line 13)? What rhetorical device(s) does this contrast exemplify?

7. What themes does the poem express, and what role does tone play in expressing these themes? Cite specific details to support your interpretation.

8. Why do you think Shelley chose to frame the description of the broken statue as the words of an anonymous “traveller”?