Ozymandias Summary

CBSE Notes for Ozymandias Summary - Chapter 10

This sonnet, composed in 1817, is one of most famous of Shelley’s anthologized poems. This poem was composed in competition with Shelley’s friend Horace Smith, who wrote another sonnet on the same topic of Ozymandias. In terms of theme imagery, this poem is notable for its virtuous diction. The theme is the decline of all leaders, of all the empires they build, however mighty they may have been in their own time. Ozymandias was another name for Ramesses the Great, Pharoah of the 19th century ancient Egypt. The sonnet paraphrases the inscription beneath the statue, ‘‘If anyone wants to know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass any of my works’’. Please Click Ozymandias
Summary for more information.