
It is said to have been destroyed in an earthquake in the third century BCE. The poem describes the half-buried remnants of a statue of Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II and contrasts the pharaoh's proud words with his ruined likeness. It was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1817 and eventually became his most famous work.

Colossal The word colossal (“vast in size, amount, extent, or scope gigantic, huge” - OED) comes from the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a huge bronze statue of the sun god near the harbor in Rhodes. How does Shelley present Ozymandias in the poem Shelley makes usage of cacophonous alliteration to present the power Ozymandias once had, ‘cold command’ and ‘King of Kings’, these suggest Ozymandias was a stern and authoritative ruler. 'Ozymandias' is one of the most famous poems of the Romantic era. In Judaism king of kings was sometimes used to refer to God in Christianity, Jesus is several times identified as “king of kings and lord of lords.” Look on my works The copy-text for this edition, the first magazine publication of Shelley's poem, has confusing punctuation: an open quotation in line 2, then another open quotation before “My name,” with a single closing quotation mark after “King of Kings.” Most editors either put the next line - “Look on my works ye Mighty, and despair!” - inside the quotations, or remove quotation marks from this section of the poem altogether. King of Kings King of kings was a title used by many rulers in the ancient Middle East.

Born in 1792, and died in 1822, Shelly did not live a very long life. Shelley hated oppressive monarchical regimes and he thought that a revolution was needed to overthrow the King. Shelley doesnt use his own voice in the poem - he removes himself from criticising the king. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass one of my works.” When Shelley was writing the poem, the British Museum had just acquired part of a statue of Rameses. Percy Shelley wrote many exceptional and memorable stories through poetry. The poem was written during the reign of King George III, who was involved in lots of military conflicts.

The actual Rameses apparently had a statue in Egypt with a similar inscription: “King of Kings am I, Osymandias. Ozymandias The Greek name for Rameses II of Egypt. He says that he saw the statue of the great king Ozymandias lying. Notes antique Pronounced with the accent on the first syllable. Ozymandias questions and answers, ozymandias poem summary, ozymandias analysis.
