Research Paper On Ozymandias

“Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.” (Haruki Murakami). Time is something that we can never seem to outrun. It always catches up to us in one way or another. People pass away, and their legacies are forgotten. It is just how the world has worked since the beginning. Ozymandias is one of those people whose legacy was long forgotten after his passing. His power generated from his rule was no more, and the only thing that remained of his legacy was a half shattered statue in the middle of the desert. Percy Shelley, in his poem Ozymandias, uses imagery, diction, and alliteration to demonstrate that no force or being can outrun the ultimate

The reader finds himself or herself stuck on phrases such as “half sunk a shattered visage lies” and “nothing beside remains. Round the decay…”. Both of these phrases point out the ultimate power of time. This statue of Ozymandias, a once great and powerful ruler is now wrecked and ruined, buried deep beneath layers of desert sand. The entirety of the poem consists of phrases such as these that allow the reader to take a journey with the speaker. It becomes easy to picture a desert filled with “ lone and level sands”, complete with “two vast and trunkless legs” of a statue of a ruler that once was. Not even an all-powerful ruler can escape the hands of time in the

Alliteration in this poem gives the diction and imagery more power. It sticks with the reader, and allows them to read the poem with more force. Throughout the work, we see repetition of beginning letters in words such as “boundless and bare”, “lone and level sands stretch”, and “sunk a shattered visage lies”. The repetitions of the sounds at the start of these words further emphasize the importance of the diction. The author could have easily said ‘boundless and uncovered’ or ‘boundless and empty’, but he chose to use the words “boundless and bare”. Similarly, he could have chosen to say ‘solitary and level sands stretch’ but he chose “lone and level” instead. This use of alliteration further propels the diction and imagery forwards, which further enhances the readers understanding that nothing can outrun time