Question

Read the poem.

Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

The title of the poem, “Ozymandias,” alludes to Ozymandias, the Greek name for Ramessess II, who was regarded as one of the greatest and most powerful of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs.

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

In “Ozymandias,” the phrase “antique land” alludes to Egypt.

How does the allusion to Egypt create meaning in this poem?

A.It creates a sense of mystery and antiquity.

B.It implies that the land is empty and barren.

C.It hints at the buried treasures that lurk just beneath the sands.

D.It compares what Egypt was to what it has become.

Answer 1

A) It creates a sense of mystery and antiquity

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

In "Ozymandias", by Percy Bysshe Shelley, in which the phrase "antique land" alludes to Egypt, this allusion creates meaning in the poem because A. It creates a sense of mystery and antiquity.

In "Ozymandias", the narrator tells us about the statue of Ozymandias, the Greek name for Pharaoh Rameses II. He depicts it as almost completely destroyed, and lying in the desert. Like rulers, the statue couldn't overcome time. As a romantic, Shelley, focuses on the leader, the hero, and his passions and struggles. There is also in romantics an interest for the remote, the mysterious, the weird and the exotic.