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What is the subject and theme of "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley?

Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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."

OPTIONS:

A) The subject is death and the theme is that death overpowers all.

B) The subject is art and the theme is that art can immortalize beauty.

C) The subject is human vanity and the theme is that human vanity is destroyed
by time.

D) The subject is immortality and the theme is that human vanity is not subject to time and nature.

2 Answers

5 votes

A.

The subject is death and the theme is that death overpowers all.

User Mohammed Sameeh
by
7.1k points
5 votes
The poem speaks of a giant statue of a great and well-renowned king, but that statue lies destroyed in the sand. It speaks of the king being so famous that even "the mighty" cannot compare with it. And yet, in an ironic twist, this statue is described as a wreck. This implies that death overpowers even great fame and wealth, and the best choice is A.
User Tahmid Rahman
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7.1k points