The growth of the new field of Egyptology and the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, changed all that and, ironically, Ramesses II is much better known today than he was in Shelley’s time two centuries ago. In the early nineteenth century when Shelley wrote this poem, Ramesses II, or “Ozymandias,” was a fairly obscure Egyptian king who was known almost exclusively from sources written in Ancient Greek over a millennium after his death. This form of the name was commonly used in English sources written prior to the twentieth century. You see, Ozymandias is one form of the name of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II in Ancient Greek. You may not recognize the name Ozymandias, but, chances are, you probably learned quite a bit about him in world history class. The message of the poem is only slightly undercut by the identity of the “Ozymandias” in question. It is a poem that was written to remind us that even those who seem mightiest right now will eventually return to dust and be forgotten and there is nothing anyone can do to avert this fate.ĪBOVE: Portrait of the great English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, author of the poem “Oxymandias,” painted by Alfred Clint in 1829 It is a dark, powerful message about our human frailty and insignificance. He built this Colossus in the desert and gave it this inscription, but now he is long dead, his cities are long gone, his statue is in ruins, and he has been totally forgotten. The idea behind the poem is that this “Ozymandias” was once a great monarch who ruled a mighty empire. The poem is about the ephemeral nature of human power. The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’ The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,Īnd wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone He was also the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (lived 1797 – 1851), the author of the classic Gothic novel Frankenstein, and a friend of Lord Byron (lived 1788 – 1824), who is also considered one of the greatest Romantic poets. Shelley is generally considered to be one of the greatest Romantic poets. In fact, chances are, you probably learned about Ozymandias in world history class, but you learned about him under a different name.įor those of you who have not read it, the poem “Ozymandias” is a very famous sonnet that was written in 1818 by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Many people are familiar with the name Ozymandias through the famous poem “Ozymandias,” written in 1818 by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (lived 1792 – 1822), but not everyone is aware that Ozymandias was actually a real ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
0 kommentar(er)
