Ozymandias is a sonnet written by P.B. Shelley, a romantic poet.
The poem has two contexts.Shelly was against monarchy; in his poem, he shows his dislike for the monarchical system.
He was against King George III, who reigned longer than any other king before him.
And was involved in a large number of military attacks all over the world, and secondly, an Egyptian pharaoh who calls himself as the king of kings.
Ozymandias considered himself to be very powerful, but his sculpture shows that no matter how powerful one is would have a downfall.
As a bright and powerful sun can go down, so can humans, no matter how powerful they consider themselves to be.
And the word traveler indicates that we are all travellers in this mortal world and will have to leave the world one day.
Lone and level sands stretching far away show that there is emptiness, no kingdom, and everything has finished.
Once so powerful, the pharaoh is now unable to build anything on the empty space.
Look on my works, ye mighty…
The above words of pharaoh now seem to be just hollow words lacking strength and power.
Echoing and showing his helplessness.
And secondly, it states that this statue is now powerless, having once been considered to be the most powerful, considering himself the king of kings. Now he has no ability or power.
Having a lot of open space but being unable to move or create anything in that free space, stuck inside mud.
According to Islamic tradition, Pharaoh’s body was preserved as a sign for later generations.
Pharaoh said, Don’t I alone own the kingdom of Egypt? Moreover, he said that rivers flow under my feet.
The statue now states his condition as “trunkless legs of stone.”
His arrogance in saying that a river flows under my feet. He is now even unable to bear the weight of his own trunk.
He declared that he is the supreme high god himself.
Let me climb up to the god of Moses myself.This is his arrogance.
I don’t know of any other god for you other than myself.
These were the words of an arrogant pharaoh who was then preserved, and the preservation of the body emphasizes on the consequences of arrogance and disobedience to God.
To keep hearts together, there should be importance given to people in the form of their advice; they should also be involved in important decisions, but monarchy only empowers a single person.
“Which yet survive.” show the emotions of the pharaoh sculpted by the sculptures so well that they can be seen even today, though he is lifeless and can’t order anything.
His power came to an end. But his tyranny could be seen by people even after his death, because tyranny and cruelty have imprinted strongly on the hearts and minds of people.
His bad deeds are showing his personality in his absence.
Ozymandias is a sign that arrogance has a downfall, and the power structure is inconsistent. Not the legacy of a single person.
So one should use his or her power carefully, not to harm but to help.
