Ozymandias Poem | Explanation of Stanzas, Theme and Question Answers

Here are the notes of the poem “Ozymandias” for the students of 1st year English. 11th class students belong to all Boards of Punjab can read Explanation of Stanzas, Questions, and Answers, theme, and Synonyms of “Ozymandias” book-3 notes online.

Reference to the Context

These lines have been taken from the poem “Ozymandias” by P.B. Shelley. In this poem, the poet describes his meeting with a traveller from an ancient country. The traveller tells the poet that he saw a broken statue made of stone in a desert. It was the statue of an old king Ozymandias.

Explanation

In the given lines, the poet wants to give us a message that nothing remains in this world forever. Ozymandias was a very powerful king of his time. He was proud of his success and the strength of his country. He called himself the king of kings. But he had to leave this world, as man is mortal. An artist made his statue on stone and fixed it in the desert. At last, broke and Ozymandias became a part of the distant past. The poet says that death brings man’s pride of success and superiority to an end.

Questions and Answers

Q. Who was Ozymandias?
Ans. Ozymandias was an ancient king. He was very cruel and proud of his power. He used to call himself “the king of kings”. After his death, his statue was erected in a desert. But is also broke with the passage of time.

Q. What kind of feelings does the poem “Ozymandias” create in the reader’s mind? “OR” What is the theme of the poem?
Ans. It is a very thought-provoking poem. We feel after reading this poem that man is mortal. But death brings an end to everything in the world. Man’s safety in the world is very short-lived.

Q. What did the traveller see in the desert?
Ans. The traveller was two trunk-less legs made of stone in the desert. The broken trunk (body) was also lying near the legs. It was the statue of an ancient king and there was an impression of pride and hatred on his face.

Q. What is the moral lesson of the poem?
Ans. The moral lesson of the poem is that pride hath a fall. The poet wants to say that man is mortal and death brings man’s pride of success and fame to an end.

Synonyms

1. I met a traveller from an antique land (very old, ancient)
2. Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone (without main body)
3. Half sunk, shattered visage lies, whose frown, (broken face)
4. Half sunk, shattered visage lies, whose frown, (scowl, glare anger, rage, wrath)
5. And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, (crumpled, craggy, creased, furrowed)
6. And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, (mock, deride scorn, laugh at)
7. Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, (last, continue, stay alive, subsist, endure)
8. Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, (imprinted, engraved, carved)
9. The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: (ridiculed, scorned, derided, laughed at)
10. And on the pedestal, these words appear: (base, stand, podium, platform)
11. Nothing beside remains. Round the decay (decompose, rot, corrode, perish)
12. Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare (vast, huge, massive, enormous)
13. Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare (destruction, ruin, disaster)