Ozymandias Questions & Answers
Ozymandias: Summary
"Ozymandias" is a thought-provoking sonnet written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, capturing the inevitable decline of human power and the transient nature of worldly accomplishments. The poem depicts a shattered statue of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Ozymandias, as a symbol of his once-mighty empire now reduced to ruins. Through vivid imagery and juxtaposition, Shelley conveys the futility of pursuing power and the ultimate insignificance of human achievements in the face of time's relentless passage. The poem serves as a timeless reminder of the ephemeral nature of power and the impermanence of human existence.
Ozymandias: Explanation
The poem "Ozymandias" tells the story of a traveler who meets someone from an ancient land. This person describes a scene in the desert where they saw the remains of a colossal statue. The statue's legs stand alone in the sand, and nearby lies a shattered and partially buried face with a frowning expression and a sneering mouth.
The speaker remarks that the sculptor who created the statue understood the ruler's emotions very well, as those feelings are still visible even though the statue is lifeless. The inscription on the pedestal reveals that the statue represents Ozymandias, a powerful and mighty king.
The inscription also conveys Ozymandias' arrogance and pride. It declares that the viewer should look upon his works, presumably his accomplishments and achievements, and feel a sense of despair because they could never match his greatness.
However, the irony of the poem lies in the fact that the once-powerful king's statue now lies broken and forgotten in the desert, surrounded by vast emptiness. The sands of time have eroded Ozymandias' empire and reduced his legacy to mere fragments.
The central message of the poem is the ephemeral nature of power and the fleeting existence of human achievements. Despite Ozymandias' belief in his everlasting power, his empire has crumbled, and his once-mighty statue serves as a reminder that nothing lasts forever. The poem highlights the ultimate insignificance of human accomplishments in the face of time's inevitable passage and the natural forces that overpower even the mightiest rulers.
Ozymandias: MCQs
1. What is the central theme of "Ozymandias"?
a) The glory of ancient Egypt
b) The inevitability of decline and impermanence
c) The power of human achievements
d) The legacy of pharaohs
Answer: b) The inevitability of decline and impermanence
2. Who is the author of the poem "Ozymandias"?
a) Samuel Taylor Coleridge
b) Lord Byron
c) John Keats
d) Percy Bysshe Shelley
Answer: d) Percy Bysshe Shelley
3. What is the significance of the shattered statue in the poem?
a) It represents the might of Ozymandias' empire.
b) It symbolizes the transience of human power and accomplishments.
c) It portrays the artistic mastery of ancient Egypt.
d) It signifies the downfall of ancient civilizations.
Answer: b) It symbolizes the transience of human power and accomplishments.
4. What does the phrase "colossal wreck" in the poem refer to?
a) The broken statue of Ozymandias
b) The vastness of the desert landscape
c) The ruins of an ancient city
d) The remnants of a fallen empire
Answer: a) The broken statue of Ozymandias
5. According to the poem, what remains of Ozymandias' empire?
a) His powerful military forces
b) His vast wealth and treasures
c) The inscription on the pedestal of the statue
d) Nothing except the shattered statue in the desert
Answer: d) Nothing except the shattered statue in the desert
6. What is the tone of the poem "Ozymandias"?
a) Optimistic
b) Nostalgic
c) Melancholic
d) Celebratory
Answer: c) Melancholic
7. What literary device is used to describe the decay of Ozymandias' empire?
a) Metaphor
b) Simile
c) Alliteration
d) Personification
Answer: d) Personification
8. What is the effect of the poem's structure (sonnet form) on the message?
a) It adds a sense of rhythm and musicality.
b) It conveys a sense of urgency and chaos.
c) It emphasizes the brevity and fleeting nature of power.
d) It showcases the complexity and depth of the subject matter.
Answer: c) It emphasizes the brevity and fleeting nature of power.
9. Who is Ozymandias addressed to in the poem?
a) The pharaohs of ancient Egypt
b) The readers of the poem
c) The gods of the Egyptian pantheon
d) The future generations
Answer: b) The readers of the poem
10. What is the ultimate message conveyed by "Ozymandias"?
a) Human accomplishments are everlasting.
b) Power and authority are absolute.
c) Time erases all traces of greatness.
d) History repeats itself in cycles.
Answer: c) Time erases all traces of greatness.
Ozymandias Short Answer type Questions
1. Whom does the poet meet?
Answer: The poet meets a traveller from an antique land.2. What kind of a place is the land visited by the traveller?
Answer: It is a desert.
3. The poem has two settings. Identify them.
Answer: The first is the place where narrator meets the traveller and the second setting is the place where ancient civilization once existed.
4. What else did the traveller find in the sand?
Answer: The traveller found a visage half sunk.
5. What is the only thing remaining in the vast desert?
Answer: The trunkless legs, the visage and the words on the pedestal.
6. What does the poet mean by ‘Two vast and trunk less legs of stone’?
Answer: The poet means just two huge legs of stone without a body.
7. How was the visage?
Answer: It had a frown and a wrinkle on the lip. There was a sneer of cold command.
8. Explain….that its sculptor well those passions read.
Answer: The sculptor read those passions well and sculpted it on the visage or the face of the statue.
9. What do the words tell us about the King?
Answer: The words tell us that the king was a proud person.
10. What lesson did you learn from the poetry?
Answer: We learn the lesson from the poetry is that nothing lasts forever.
11. What features on the King’s face tell that he was proud?
Answer: The king had a frown and a wrinkled lip on his face. His face also had a sneer of cold command.
12. What else tells that he was proud?
Answer: The inscription on the pedestal: ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” tells us that he was proud.
13. What happens to people who are proud?
Answer: Nothing remains of the people except evidences that they were proud.
14. What should be the qualities that achievers should imbibe?
Answer: The achievers should be humble about their achievements and not boastful.
15. What will happen then?
Answer: Achievements and our name will not be forgotten by the sands of time. It will always be remembered.
Ozymandias Long Answer type Questions
1. “Look on my works, ye mighty and despair!” Who is Ozymandias referring to when he speaks of “ye mighty”? Why should they despair?
Answer: Ozymandias is referring to his own prowess. The brags that the other kings should be awestruck for his phenomenal and incomparable works. They should despair because he is impossible to be defeated. According to him he is unparallel, for he thinks nobody can overpass his greatness and strength.
2. “The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed”. Whose hand and heart has poet referred to in this line?
Answer: Through the quoted lines, the poet is referring to the sculptor who gave us the distinct expression of the tyrannous king Ozymandias, who with his proud characteristics is ruined in the desert.
3. What did the inscription on the pedestal below the statue indicate?
Answer: The inscription on the pedestal below the statue indicated the arrogance, conceit and arrogance of king Ozymandias. The king appeared to sneer at people who were weak and helpless.
4. What does the narrator mean when he says “Nothing beside remains.”?
Answer: The narrator, through the sentence “Nothing beside remains” means that Ozymandias, the king of kings, the mightiest ruler of his times had led the life of a man perpetually in pursuit of power, might and worldly pleasures. He had fought many battles and expanded his kingdom to an unthinkable vastness. After his death, nothing remained, time had wiped every trace of his kingdom, and there was a vast sandy desert that remained. The piece of art survived the ravages of time, because even in the broken pieces of the statue one could read the face lying on the ground and get to know what sort of man he actually was. Ozymandias
5. What is the main theme of the poem ‘Ozymandias’?
Answer: The main theme of the poem is nothing lasts forever. No king or his power can defeat time. All the achievement, in the end, leads to grave. So, the pride and the showcase of power are useless.
6. In what condition was the statue found?
Answer: The statue of Ozymandias was found in a distant desert. Two vast legs of stone stood on a pedestal. The head of the statue was broken and lay half sunk in the sand.
7. How does the poet describe the expression on Ozymandias’ face?
Answer: The shattered face of Ozymandias’ statue lay half-buried in the sand. It had a frown on its brow. It had wrinkled lips. It had a sneering look showing cold command in his eyes.
8. In the poem ‘Ozymandias’, how does the poet show that art and language outlive the other symbols of power?
Answer: In the poem ‘Ozymandias’ the words ‘which yet survive’ imply the immortality of a work of art that the artist had created. The sculptor’s hands copied and portrayed his subject’s passions and his heart felt those passions and the hand inspired to make it possible. Even though the sculptor’s subject is now dead and his glories, kingdom and statues have crumbled to dust and have not lasted, his creation is still alive (stamped) on the otherwise lifeless stones. Through this the poet has shown that art and language outlive the other symbols of power.
9. How did the poet come to know about the broken statue of Ozymandias?
Answer: The poet came to know about the broken statue of Ozymandias by a speaker who had met a traveller from an ancient land. The story and the condition of Ozymandias’ statue was conveyed by word of mouth.
0Comments