The poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley is written in a distant manner, emphasizing a solemn tone. The poem itself is a story twice removed from the audience: a tale told to the narrator by a traveller from an antique land who speaks of an ancient statue left to crumble in the desert. This removal supports the tone, and gives a better impression of the great statue that once stood, how all great things come to fall given time.
The traveller describes the statue, the shattered visage rests next to trunkless legs of stone, yet the expression survives to tell us of the sculptor who formed it. How the cold sneer, the wrinkled lip, yet survives the trials of the sand to tell the world of Ozymandias, King of Kings and the command he once bore. Reflecting on the ancient statue, the narrator says that "Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away" speaks to the finality of the desert.
Zachary,
ReplyDeleteBe cognizant of word choice. Although you provide some explanation of your phrase "in a distant manner" in the sentences that follow, you would strengthen your introductory paragraph by choosing more precise wording. Think about what exactly you mean by "in a distant manner" and then actually write that. Using your own words here, you might have "In "Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley the removal (or distance, or detachment, or estrangement, or) or the narrator from the action emphasizes the solemn tone. The poem a tale told to the narrator by a traveller ..."
Be careful, also, to avoid summarizing the plot of the poem in an essay. Remember that I also have a copy of the poem and I know what happens. Tell me something I don't know: your interpretation of what it mean.