Ozymandias

This article is about the poem by Shelley. For the poem by Smith, see Ozymandias (Smith). For the Egyptian pharaoh, see Ramesses II. For other uses, see Ozymandias (disambiguation).

Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Shelley's "Ozymandias" in The Examiner
First published in11 January 1818
CountryEngland
LanguageModern English
FormSonnet
MeterLoose iambic pentameter
Rhyme schemeABABACDCEDEFEF
PublisherThe Examiner
Full text
Ozymandias (Shelley) at Wikisource

"Ozymandias" (/ˌɒzɪˈmændiəs/ OZ-im-AN-dee-əs)[1] is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner[2] of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's collection Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems,[3] and in a posthumous compilation of his poems published in 1826.[4]

The poem was created as part of a friendly competition in which Shelley and fellow poet Horace Smith each created a poem on the subject of Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II under the title of Ozymandias, the Greek name for the pharaoh. Shelley's poem explores the ravages of time and the oblivion to which the legacies of even the greatest men are subject.

  1. ^ Wells 1990, p. 508.
  2. ^ Glirastes 1818, p. 24.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Shelley1876 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Shelley 1826, p. 100.