rom this you canimagine a very conceited, arrogant pharaoh,commanding his people building this great vaststatue hoping his power would be immortality.And when this great piece of work is done, hedemanded to put such words on the pedestal:‘"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Lookat my works, ye Mighty and despair!"’(Lines,10-11). Ozymandias seemed to think that as longas his sculpture was there, his kingdom wouldlast forever. But according to this poem, afterhundreds and thousands of years, the only thingleft is sand and the rotting and decayingsculpture. Shelley wrote, " Nothing besideremains"(line, 12) after the words " Look at myworks,"(line, 11). This is really sarcastic becausethe prior sentence was just talking about howgreat and fabulous this sculpture was and howthe king thought about possessing his kingdomforever this way. Then, the next sentence comeswith- "Nothing beside remains"(line, 12). Shelleyis trying to tell us something through this vividand ironic picture described in the poem, which isno one lives forever, and nor do theirpossessions. In the poem, this pharaoh thought that even if hepast away, his kingdom, power and possessionswould still remain the same, and forever thisway. But in reality, it’s impossible. Like thepoem said, the king’s work became nothing, onlyshattered statue with legs and head left, lying inthe desert. Shelley put a clear image in all ourminds when he talked about the power anddesires of this mighty king. All Ozymandiaswanted was immortality, which everyone in thisworld, even today, would die for. Who knows,maybe that was the key to the king’s impracticaldream....
