PosterĄG Valerie Chen at 13:32:35 3/10/98 from c445-12.svdcc.fju.edu.tw
MentionedĄG
| The poem was an Italian sonnet. In the first
eight lines, the speaker described the prestige and majestic looking of Ozymandias, a great king. But then, lines 10 - 11 interrupted the description and showed afterwards in the last three lines, the failure of the king by telling us how bleak and desolate his city had become. There was no vitality at all but only monotonous sands around it. Besides, the huge sculpture of Ozymandias was badly damaged and partly sunk in sands for the time of the mighty king was over. Therefore, the poem presented a big contrast between the first eight lines and the last three lines. From the description of Ozymandias' countenance, he seemed to be a serious and proud king. Or maybe we should think of him as a heartless, cruel and warlike tyrant, who was obsessed with great ambitions of ruling the world. It's said on the pedestal: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" From these words, we could see that Ozymandias had a very conceited and indomitable character. However, there was an ironic meaning in the king's own words. When the mighty king said the word 'despair', he was certainly referring to his enemies, the ones he wished to conquer. But at the same time, the word could also be understood as the despair to the proud king's work that was exactly what was shown in the last three lines, the decline of the city. Even though the sculpture was shattered, the expression on the stony face was still very clear. It showed the unbending and steadfast character of the king that even time could remove from him. Besides, I think that Ozymandias is still alive in some of us. No matter what age we are in, there would always be people who are obsessed with ambitions and desires of power just like the 'omnipotent' king. Therefore, no matter how damaged and rotten the sculpture was, the strong expression of the face would never disappear. I think art plays a very important role for the understanding of history. By the time when words were still not invented, the only ways to tell history and human's daily life were through oral language and arts. We see in the poem that the speaker learned the story of Ozymandias from a traveler while the latter from a sculpture and a pedestal he once read in his journey. Thus, in this way, thanks to art (drawings, sculptures, songs, poems, etc); all remote and antique stories were dispersed and made known to the next generations giving them not only historical knowledge and evidences but also beautiful imaginations about the ancient time. Note: Ray, please do not sent your comments to my mailbox. Thanks. |