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17 pages 34 minutes read

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1818

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Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

Kubla Khan” by Samuel Coleridge (1816)

“Ozymandias” is often compared to “Kubla Khan,” Samuel Coleridge’s 1816 Romantic poem loosely based on the Chinese emperor Kublai Khan. While Shelley establishes his powerful ruler, Ozymandias, as the foil of art and poetry, Coleridge equates Kubla Khan’s kingdom, his “stately pleasure-dome,” with the power of artistic imagination.

England in 1819” by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1839)

“England in 1819,” another sonnet by Shelley, articulates with real world examples his metaphorical criticisms of tyranny in “Ozymandias.” Shelley takes the British system of government to task, particularly its aging monarch George, whom he describes as “An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying King.”

On a Stupendous Leg of Granite” by Horace Smith (1818)

While it has achieved none of the fame or renown of “Ozymandias,” it is still a worthwhile exercise to read “On a Stupendous Leg of Granite,” Horace Smith’s entry in his and Shelley’s 1818 sonnet contest. Smith’s poem lacks the metaphorical nuance of “Ozymandias” but more directly connects the topic to contemporary British affairs. He imagines a similar scenario, in which a future traveler marvels at the ruins of London.

Further Reading & Resources

This brief article on the British Museum’s website describes the Egyptian statue and makes direct reference to Shelley’s sonnet explaining that “the imminent arrival of the head in England in 1818 inspired the poet.”

This article appears on the SOAS website, a gathering place for both educators and learners at The School of Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of London. Lowe’s exploration of the poem as artefact offers readers a deeper understanding of the Eurocentric viewpoint and the colonial powerplays at stake in Egypt during the time of the poem’s writing.

"Romantic Interests: 'Ozymandias' and a Runaway Dormouse" by Charles Cuykendall Carter (2018)

Shelley often used pseudonyms when his works were published, and he used the unusual name of “Glirastes” when “Ozymandias” was first published in The Examiner newspaper on January 11, 1818. This article on the New York Public Library’s website looks more closely at Shelley’s choice of pen name and its link to Shelley’s relationship with Mary Shelley née Wollstonecraft, his future wife and author of Frankenstein.

Listen to Poem

Renowned Shakespearean and English actor, John Gielgud, reads “Ozymandias” in this made-for-radio recording. During his 80-year theatre career spanning much of the 20th century, Gielgud acted alongside Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson, performing in London’s West End and on Broadway.

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