Percy Beshy Shelly: Ozymandias

 Timeless Echoes of Ozymandias: Musings on Power and Hubris

Such are the ways in which these themes of power, legacy, and human achievement come to pass into an inevitability that one needs reminded of this transience of authority and the hubris of mortals only by a poem such as this penned as late as 1818. The broken statue of what once was a great king in this desolate land is some imagery that captures the sense that however strong one may be, time will eventually consume all glory. The dualism in Shelley's excellent artistry takes it to heights and ruin that the reader sits down to reflect over the passing nature of life and futility of pride.

The poem is preceded by an extensive description of the shattered grand statue: its two huge and trunkless legs sit isolated in the sand. The description reduces the magnanimity into fragments, making the reader look into the passage nature of power. The inscription on the pedestal calls attention but boasts of the power and achievements of the king. It is against this arid desolation surrounding it. Here, Shelley's irony gives a deeper impact to the poem; the very hubris that once defined Ozymandias now defines the legacy as ruin. The poem thus sets questions as to the values assigned to power and success, concluding in the end that a proud declaration is of no meaning to time.

Shelley's "Ozymandias" also evokes further introspection into the nature of legacy. Although the king did not get his immortality, declared his victory over monumental structures, history is saying otherwise, that the desolation and the barrenness of the wasteland surrounding the monument speak of a gloomy message from human ambition, even the seeming invincible empires topple and crumble under their own hubris. It was through this common theme that Shelley deeply thought on the humanity weaknesses and even led people to a moment of reflection about how the subsequent generations could interpret our legacy.

Simply said, "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley stands out as one classic study regarding the existence of power transience and, most important, a commentary on irony located within human conceit. Such has been the density of scenes about bright color; the poem, being replete with themes we are reminded time will run amok with things of human toil and everything so constructed by hands. We cannot but be induced to think concerning our own hope of what manner of thing might live after. In a world that, at several times, has seen that success and power almost become something appreciated, "Ozymandias" stands as a reminder of how to look unto humility so one would search more important meaning for something other than to applaud and have acceptance.