Chelsea Ellerson

Mrs. England
English 4
02 November 2016
Ozymandias
The two poets, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Horace Smith, were inspired to write their poems
once the statue of Rameses II head arrived in London. The poems titled Ozymandias both use
imagery to describe the affect this statue and the person it illustrated. Although both poems are
sonnets the authors had different feelings towards the remains of the statue. Shelly goes into
great detail about the expression on the statues face. While Smith compared the city of
Babylon's existence to Londons.
The original Ozymandia poem was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The speaker
describes the statues facial expression as a frown, wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
(line 5). The poem suggest that Ramses II was a person who felt he deserved praise because
he was the king of kings(line 10). As the poem goes on it starts to describe how the place the
statue once stood is now boundless and bare (line 13). This then reveals the theme of the
poem, which is no matter how powerful something is it will not last forever.
The second poet to create a Ozymandias poem was Horace Smith. Although his views
were very similar to Shelleys, his way of presenting them was different. He relates the forgotten
land of Babylon to what London will be in the future. This is the same thought that Shelley had
about how nothing will last forever. The speaker in Smiths poem says What wonderful, but
unrecorded, race Once dwelt in that annihilated place.(lines 13-14). He is relating this to
London after it no longer exist.

Both sonnets had the theme that no matter who or what something is, it will not last forever.
Ramses II is portrayed as a very vain man who glorified his work, which included building the
city of Babylon. This city no longer exists, which both poets compare back to everything that city
use to stand for. Although this city once stood for something so important, only a statue's legs
stands here now.

Works Cited
Crutchley, Philippa. "Rameses II ("Ozymandias")." Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Collections
Common
Core Assessment Grade 12. Place of Publication Not Identified: Houghton Mifflin,
2013. 72.
Print.

Hamdan, Anwar. The Ramesseum. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Collections Common Core
Assessment Grade 12. Place of Publication Not Identified: Houghton Mifflin, 2013. 73.
Print.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. "Ozymandias." Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Collections Common Core
Assessment Grade 12. Place of Publication Not Identified: Houghton Mifflin, 2013. 74.
Print.
Smith, Horace. "Ozymandias." Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Collections Common Core
Assessment
Grade 12. Place of Publication Not Identified: Houghton Mifflin, 2013. 75. Print.