Ozymandias Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in Broadbridge Heath, England on August 4, 1792. All throughout school, he was severely bullied, both physically and mentally by his classmates. Two years after graduating college, he had already published two novels and two volumes of poetry. Now, he is one of the most highly regarded English romantic poets. With all his young success, he had two kids and both of them, unfortunately passed away at a young age. This tragedy had to have something to do with his emotional and dramatic writing. This poem in particular came about because Shelley and his friend Horace Smith had a contest to see who could write the best poem about Egypt (Shmoop). The speaker describes a meeting with someone who has traveled to a place where ancient civilizations once existed. We know from the title that he’s talking about Egypt. The traveler told the speaker a story about an old, fragmented statue in the middle of the desert. The statue is broken apart, but you can still make out the face of a person. The face looks stern and powerful, like a ruler. The sculptor did a good job at expressing the ruler’s personality. The ruler was not a nice guy at all guy, but he took care of his people which is why he had enough of their respect for them to listen to what he has to say. On the pedestal near …show more content…
It is sorrowful because the greatness and kingdom of a ruler is gone and forgotten. However, at the bottom of this sorrow, the poem holds great lessons to people who read it.This sonnet expresses to its reader that all human power will end, and that possessions and power do not mean immortality or retained greatness. Here we have a picture of a king who believed that, because of his power and wealth , his “power” he had over the people he ruled, would last forever. However, through the years, the king’s great works have crumbled and disappeared which is what the statue mainly represents