Summary
"Ozymandias" is a sonnet written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and first published in January 1818. The early-19th century work recounts the story of a traveler from an ancient land who comes upon the ruins of a statue in the desert.
First described are two gargantuan legs of stone lying upright in the ruin. With no head to connect them, they remain in the desolate sands as odd protrusions. The broken face of the statue lies beside the legs and is half-buried. The statue seemingly bears a rather authoritative and haughty expression, which is described by the traveler as having a “frown and a wrinkled lip,” which form a sneer of cold command. Evidently, the expression indicates that the sculptor understood their subject masterfully, imprinting those emotions for eternity on lifeless stone with their skill. Next, the traveler continues to describe the other attributes on the statue he witnessed, which include an inscription: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" However, the traveler notes that nothing else remains to be seen in the area, save for a vast expanse of sandy and decaying desolation.
