Percy Shelley: Poems Lesson Plan

What is the underlying message of “Ozymandias”?

Ozymandias is a poem about change, oppression, power, and mortality. The once powerful and mighty Ozymandias, self-proclaimed king of kings, was unable to withstand time’s effects, and was reduced to a sorry shadow of his former self. We know this because of the decrepit state of the last remaining remnant of Ozymandias—his statue. In the poem, the statue is described as “decay” and a “colossal wreck” (13). Though the story of Ozymandias has a feeling similar to that of epic legends, the fate of Ozymandias has clear real-life political implications. Shelley is articulating the idea that even the most powerful rulers with...