‘Ozymandias’ Irony: Exploring the Hubris of Transient Glory

Ozymandias’ Powerful Message

The haunting image of a massive broken statue in an antique land clearly depicts the self-deluding hubris of mankind in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem, “Ozymandias.” This wondrous poetic masterpiece addresses some of life’s essential truths: that the works of man are temporal, and his life is fleeting. Shelley uses literary devices such as irony, symbolism, and imagery to portray this powerful theme.

Ozymandias Irony: Vanity of Man’s Attempts

The desire of man to do something, build something, and be something that endures through posterity is one shared by humanity across the globe.

Part of the allure of Shelley’s sonnet, “Ozymandias,” is the way it answers this yearning. Dripping with irony, the poem teaches that man’s attempts are nothing but vanity, the wreckage of toppled dreams and broken empires. Shelley uses capitalization to emphasize this irony. By capitalizing both Works and Mighty, it captures the reader’s attention, subtly connecting these words together and having them stand out within the line, “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Furthermore, the use of capitalization highlights the intended irony when two lines later. The poem declares the ‘Works’ to be a Wreck, “Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare.”

Another example of Shelley’s command of irony is his use of opposites. For example, he pairs stones with sand. Stone is often associated with the idea of ‘time without end.’ After all, the study of geology would be useless without centuries of life depicted in the strata of stone. In “Ozymandias,” the stone represents the long-lasting kingdom that the ‘king of kings’ was supposed to rule over, as we see in line two when it says, “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone,” In opposition, desert sand is blown and buffeted, it is shifting and changing thus representing the true temporal nature of man and his kingdoms. The trunkless stone legs of Ozymandias, “Stand in the desert,” ironically sinking in the sand. Shelley, however, uses more than irony to convey his theme; he reinforces it with impressive symbolism.

Symbolism in “Ozymandias”

Almost every line of this poem contains a symbol. As a literary critic, K.N. Sharma explains: The humility of the traveler who quietly makes a piercing satire on the so-called “great’ emperor is memorable in the poem… because it has a concrete surface and also a depth of symbolic meaning. Symbolically, it represents the vanity of human pride, possession, and power.

Symbolic meaning can be found behind the legs of the statue. In ancient times the feet and legs represented dominion and ownership. The broken legs of the statue, therefore, may represent the broken dominance of the king it was sculpted to depict. The “visage,” or face of the statue, portrays the personhood of Ozymandias. The reader feels like she has met the long-dead king even though his visage has been shattered. The shattered face symbolizes the destruction of the man Ozymandias himself. The fact that this visage is “Half sunk” into the desert is also symbolic. The desert represents time as it corrodes, shifts, and levels everything into dust, as is revealed in the final line of the poem, “The lone and level sands stretch far away.” In like manner, time stretches on before us like the infinite desert horizon. The sand has a similar symbolic meaning. It represents death. Reading the poem, one can almost hear the age-old burial rights being spoken, “ashes to ashes and dust to dust.” These symbols emphasize the poem’s theme concerning man’s mortality and the failure of his humanistic ambitions. The theme is reinforced further by engaging imagery.

Vivid Imagery in Shelley’s Creation

Shelley demonstrates a total command of the use of imagery throughout, and for such a short sonnet, “Ozymandias” is surprisingly full of imagery. A great example of this is the words, “Half sunk,” which imply that death has had its way with the one-time ruler and time has consumed even the firm and enduring rock. Lines 4 and 5 tell of the ruler’s passions that have been captured by the sculptor, such as the “frown,” “wrinkled lip,” “sneer,” and “cold command,” all of which evoke distinct images of the tyrant. The words “Shattered visage” give the impression that the so-called king of kings’ identity has been broken. The word “boundless” suggests a never-ending sea of sand. The reader can almost see the great king stripped naked before the real power of time through Shelley’s use of the word “bare.” Together in line 13, “boundless and bare,” create the image of a forever shamed man. Finally, the “lone and level sands,” in the final line of the poem, invoke the image of a vast and empty landscape, emphasizing the equalizing power of death and unending time.

“Ozymandias” was first published in 1818, and its potency has not diminished over time. As literary critic Stephen Walters comments: Shelley’s poem has made Ozymandias an emblem of self-deluding hubris, the ambition to be remembered favorably by posterity, and the refusal to acknowledge time’s destruction of human achievement. Yet ‘Ozymandias’ would not have entranced its readers for two centuries if it were only about hubris and punishment. Shelley’s Ozymandias was a braggart, but the enormous fragments of his statue assure us that the achievements he vaunts were real-a city, perhaps a whole civilization, once stood here, even if time and the elements have destroyed it.

Perhaps the poem endures as a literary favorite because it addresses some of life’s essential truths. Ozymandias, no matter how proud, no matter how domineering, shared the fate of all men. For man’s life on earth is fleeting, and it passes by like dust on the wind. As wise King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes: Life is fleeting, like a passing mist. It is like trying to catch hold of breath. All vanishes like a vapor; everything is a great vanity.

Thousands of years before “Ozymandias” was penned, Solomon wrote lyrically about the temporal nature of man’s earthly efforts. Although humanism as a movement wasn’t founded until 1827, after Shelly wrote this poem, humanistic ideas are seen within it. The term “King of King” is a direct reference to the Judeo-Christian title for Jesus, who is God-made flesh. Shelley’s use of this term implies that Ozymandias believed himself to have attained godhood. This is a distinctly humanistic worldview. Solomon understood that humanism, as a philosophy, fails, and the poem agrees with him. If, as the humanist claims, we can actualize our godlike qualities by believing in ourselves, then why do the sands of time consume us all? The humanist claims there is no God and that we have no immortal soul. Yet, who can possibly want this to be true? If the humanist is correct, and there is no God or immortal human soul, then the sand wins- covering us “boundless and bare.” The poem reveals that man’s attempts to attain divinity fail and that the sand wins. As far as world views go, however, this is bleak, to say the least. The Bible offers a more hopeful outlook.

In the book of Romans, Paul presents a different solution. He declares the existence of God, and throughout his letter, he reveals many attributes of God. He states, for example, that God is immortal, loving, and sovereign. Furthermore, he states that God created all things, and His existence is clear through the handiwork of nature. He proclaims: …God’s invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

Moreover, Paul explains how all of creation became unglued by sin, that evil entered the world through the sin of Adam and is perpetuated by all of mankind. Paul emphasizes that God is both righteous and just and that His wrath over the pain and suffering man’s sin has caused terrible. He explains, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and that “the wages of sin is death”. However, because of His great mercy and love for man, God does not leave man to suffer the consequences of his sin.

The story of the Bible from “In the beginning” to the final “Amen” of Revelations is the story of God’s plan to restore His creation to its original state of perfection. Jesus is God’s plan of redemption for the fallen world. God stooped down and joined man in his pain, and this is evident through the sacrifice Jesus made on mankind’s behalf. As Paul explains: He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—… Who, then, is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to live—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?… No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Bible presents a worldview that has eternal implications and provides hope. By believing in an eternal God, who, through the gift of His son Jesus we have substitutionary atonement for our sins, death no longer has dominion over man. In this way, by gaining eternity, the ‘sand’ loses. Man’s reward can be endless as he spends eternity with God in all His glory.

Ozymandias is a sonnet full of irony, packed with powerful symbolism and engaging imagery. Shelly uses these literary devices to convey essential truths about life. The poem reveals that man’s life is fleeting and his work on earth is temporary. Man’s soul, however, was made for eternity, and through belief in Jesus Christ, his sins can be forgiven, and he can gain eternity with God. The sand doesn’t always win.

References:

1. Shelley, P. B. (1818). Ozymandias. In P. B. Shelley: Poems and Prose (pp. 632-633). Harvard University Press.

2. Sharma, K. N. The symbolism in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias.”

3. Walters, S. Shelley’s “Ozymandias”: Time, Eternity, and the Poet’s Political Vision.

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