Percy Bysshe Shelley OZYMANDIAS poem analysis-Reading, Telling & Interpreting-Romanticism Literature

[@DrOctaviaCox]

Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you.

[@krishanu-d1k]

You're the sculptor who read the poet's passion so well. 😎😎

[@DrOctaviaCox]

Ha! - thank you.

[@mike.munyer]

❤️

[@degalan2656]

It very much depends on how old one is. The older one gets, the less one cares about others interpretation. Write for the sake of writing. As the years accumulate …

[@lynnemckiernan4594]

I've lived this poem since I was a school girl. Thank you for your interesting interpretations.

[@jjandj7582]

I enjoyed this so much. I taught the poem many times. I found the multiple narrators interesting too. Since the "I' is speaking to the reader or listener of the poem, I believe the reader/listener is another character in the poem. The reader will go on to tell the story of the irony too. Also another idea of "appear" rather than "said" for Ozymandias's words is that he no longer has a voice. His words remain only because the artist chiseled them. Thanks for your videos!

[@aidan4624]

The line, “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” also has another meaning in the sense that none of his works remain, the only work that does is the work of an artist. It almost feels like the the presumed metropolis that the sculpture once belonged to has fallen into the dead void of the desert, leaving the artwork as the lone survivor to. A line (and poem in general) about the permanence of art over power.

[@johnwagstaffe1610]

Dr. Cox You are taking me back to my schooldays, some 70 years ago - but it still lives and you clearly enjoy reading it. Thank you. I'll read it again.

[@DrOctaviaCox]

You are very, very welcome indeed. Octavia

[@cathryncampbell8555]

Thank you, Dr. Cox! Years ago, I was taught simply that this work was about the failure of vainglorious conquerors -- but your interpretation is much more nuanced.

[@DrOctaviaCox]

Do you have any thoughts or questions about _Ozymandias_ ?

[@coffeeteasanity92]

I know this is way past the posting date, but I just found this video, and I was wondering about the interpretation of "the hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed." I always read that line as referring to both the artist and Ozymandias in turn. "the hand that mocked them" being the sculptor who rendered these features with mocking precision. Rather than making the king seem more noble, or glossing over his flaws, he mercilessly displays them for the world to see. "the heart that fed" is Ozymandias himself, who's heart fed on the pride, the prestige, and the vainglory inherent in having the statue made in the first place. Does this interpretation hold water? It certainly shaped the meaning of the poem in my mind, being the joke of men's lasting impact and great works in the face of time and decay. There is a great mockery of pride in general in this work, I feel.

[@Vinezlul]

When I was young my dad always made me read shelly for twenty minutes after finishing my homework. I hated it and grew to hate shelly lol. But now being older I wish I absorb Percy's writings so thank you so much for these videos..

[@noeltroy2634]

Adore shelley. I write poetry and plays myself, and find shelley, although very dark at times, his work, and life, very inspiring. One of my favourite quotes of his: "this Isle and House are mine, and I have vowed thee to be lady of solitude" epipscychidion. Glorious poem. Thank you for your wonderful broadcasts. You've just mentioned keats. One of the most sublime lines in all literature is from his ode to sleep, the closing lines, turn the key deftly in the oiled wards, and seal the hushed casket of my soul" my goodness sublime beyond description. It's also, the sonnet, along with many others, set to music by Benjamin Britten in his "serenade for tenor, strings and horn. Do have a listen. A rapturous work. Blake's" O, Rose, thou are sick" is included in this work by Britten. Noel ♥️

[@DrOctaviaCox]

Thanks for your beautiful comment Noel. You're clearly steeped in Romantic sublimity - a lovely way to construct life. There are so, so many wonderful lines and images in Shelley's _Epipsychidion_ (although I'm not convinced by the overall argument). I do love "my moth-like Muse has burnt its wings" & "Love is like understanding, that grows bright", and this passage: Imagination! which from earth and sky, And from the depths of human fantasy, As from a thousand prisms and mirrors, fills The Universe with glorious beams... I also adore Keats - I think my favourite line from _Sonnet_ _to_ _Sleep_ is "Save me from curious conscience" - I love the (almost perverse) image of sleep saving you from your own mind.

[@DrOctaviaCox]

Thank you for pointing out Britten's 'Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings' which I had not come across before. Gorgeous.

[@noeltroy2634]

@@DrOctaviaCox good morning, Octavia, "steeped" is the appropriate word. I was born and raised In the Duddon valley in the lake district. And, came to London in my early twenties to work as an actor. I occasionally go back to the Duddon Valley to write. I've been social distancing my whole life, so it's nothing new to me. Can't recommend it enough 😂 I'm sure you know wordsworth wrote a collection of sonnets to the river Duddon. Although the prelude is by far his greatest work. Noel

[@noeltroy2634]

Please see my comments in your dh Lawrence, and Virginia woolf broadcasts

[@DrOctaviaCox]

I love Wordsworth's line, in his poem 'To the River Duddon', the "privileged Inmates of deep solitude". Beautiful.

[@ellie698]

Wow, really interesting!

[@sparklie962]

This has always been a favourite of mine. I was fascinated by Dr. Cox's explanation of the two potential interpretations of "the hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed." I'd always had a split interpretation of this line - that it was a reference to the *passions* - and assumed that the mocking hand was the sculptor's, but the "heart that fed" (those passions) belonged to Ozymandius. Now I've got two new ways of reading a set of words whose meaning I never imagined I'd question. This is a great gift - this particular close reading is going to resonate with me for some time .

[@tedmccarthy4761]

I have always misremembered the line as "the heart that mocked them and the hand that fed" and just assumed that it applied only to Ozymandias.

[@rmarkread3750]

Once again, your close reading of a familiar work has deepened and focused my appreciation of it. Of course we really don't know how accurately the sculptor produced a likeness of the subject or even if he got the quote right. Maybe it was thrown down and left on the desert because the family found it unacceptable. None of that really matters, because it is not the statue that "lives." Rather, it is Shelley's vital and masterful poem that lives in our minds and memories.

[@Ozgipsy]

This is wonderful Dr Cox. Truly enjoyed it. I came here from one you did on Wuthering Heights, also great 👌

[@esdraspinto6301]

you help me so much

[@roundtreerebekah7723]

This is my favorite one I've heard so far. Thank you I love listening to your musings

[@DrOctaviaCox]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for listening.

[@tagore4d]

I wanted to know about this, after watching 'Alien Covenant' movie. Really loved the way you explained it. expecially the 'interpretation' by multiple points of view! Thanks so much for the video. Just loved the art itself and also the ur pov.

[@EmoBearRights]

Sands also evokes the phrase sands of time i.e. we're not much in the sands of time however powerful we think we are.

[@krishanu-d1k]

Wonderfully explained 😍

[@DrOctaviaCox]

My pleasure. It's very easy to talk about such a wonderful poem!

[@esdraspinto6301]

I would love watching a analysis about "The Brain is wider than the sky" by Emily Dickinson from you

[@EmoBearRights]

The Sisters of Mercy song Dominion also uses the poem to comment on the American Empire and the belief that too will fall.

[@noeltroy2634]

Adore shell

[@EmoBearRights]

It's also interesting that art is kinda like the undead the extension, partial preservation and distortion of a living being through a lifeless vessel.

[@aloftus5094]

😊 just one thing shouts out at me loud and clear, despite the layers of reported speech (something you are very good at ) ozymandias king of kings, must be a Persiab King and interestingly the Behistuninsprition left by Darius I, the great was unearthed by European archaeologists in 1798 in a rocky defile before a ruined cityunfortunately it was not deciphered and translated until 1822

[@EmoBearRights]

In the history of world in 100 objects the poem is mentioned when talking about a statue of the pharoah Ramses II in relation to Egypt's relationship to Empire and how it stands for a microsposm of rising and falling empires in relation to Egypt and antiquity.

[@willstevens4289]

Thanks for the exposition. Frankly, I still have trouble with the 8th line. I can’t see that ‘mock’ can possibly mean ‘ridicule’, so it seems that Shelley must have been using it in the extremely unusual sense of ‘simulate’. (The OED cites only two examples of mock being used as a verb in this way, both from Shakespeare.) Also, ‘the heart that fed’ seems totally obscure. Is it the sculptor’s heart, or Ozymandias’s? And does ‘fed’ imply distributing food, as in ‘feeding the hungry’, or does it imply using as food, as in ‘feeding upon vegetables’? Either way, it doesn’t seem to fit either the sculptor or Ozymandias - unless Ozymandias is feeding upon his subjects. But, in any case, there’s the question of why the ‘heart’ is involved in feeding. I’d even dare to suggest that the line is a bad one, and that Shelley might have improved it.

[@tedmccarthy4761]

I had always misremembered the line as "the heart that mocked them and the hand that fed" and assumed it applied to Ozymandias's relationship with his subjects.

[@jrpipik]

Brilliant analysis. But I would take exception to the idea that the two essential parts of art are telling and interpreting, at least not without redefining interpreting out of my ken. I would say rather telling and experiencing. Because many people -- perhaps even most people -- make no effort to understand a work of art, they simply listen (or watch or read etc.). In so many cases they make no attempt to analyze or attach a meaning to the work. They enjoy the play of color in a painting (or not), they like the beat of a song without listening to the lyric, they let the sound of the words of a poem wash over them. Unlike English Majors (like me), they're satisfied to just let the art happen to them. As James Taylor says, "To me the words are nice the way they sound." And perhaps they may ultimately be getting as much or more out of art than someone like me who labors over it.

[@DrOctaviaCox]

Thank you. I don't think we mean very different things by experiencing and interpreting - the process of trying to make sense of the world and of art.

[@noeltroy2634]

"octavia" reminds me of octavian in strauss' der rosenkavelier. Wasn't octavia also Nero's wife?

[@DrOctaviaCox]

There were several Octavias. I believe that Claudia Octavia was Nero's wife. Octavia was also the sister of the emperor Augustus [also called Octavius Caesar] and wife of Mark Anthony (she appears in Shakespeare's _Antony_ _and_ _Cleopatra_ and doesn't really have a very nice time of things).

[@noeltroy2634]

@@DrOctaviaCox hello, Octavia Cox, just awoke to your lovely comments. And, lo and behold, I wrote a lengthy response to your above comment, and, just before completion, the phone went off and I lost it. Arrrrrrrgh! Give me a quill and a pot of ink anyday. Right, let's see what my memory's like...... Thank you for the thorough explanation into octavias and emperors. Obviously Augustus was the patron of both Horace and Ovid. Horace endlessly composing odes to the beauty and tranquility of his farmhouse provided by Augustus. And poor old Ovid going dolally in Tomis. The slings and arrows indeed. Love ovid's letters in exile. He even brings humour into them despite the direness of his situations. One of the most famous quotes attributable to Augustus: festini lenti. Make haste, slowly. Apropos Claudia octavia, the interpretation of her in monteverdi's le incoronazione di poppea is one of the most sublime in all music and drama. Her final aria, addio, roma, is one of the most rapturous, moving ever written. Best interpretation: karajan's 1964 Vienna state opera production. Breathtaking. I'm glad that you enjoyed the brittain serenade. Keats' ode to sleep is the final song. Brittain also set rimbauds les illuminations to music. I'm currently working on a collection of sonnets, a paper pygmalion, which are going incredibly well. Also completed two full length stage plays. Which I can't see being performed anytime soon due to the current climate. So I perform my work privately. Which I enjoy. Intimate soirees. Here is my email address: Noeltroy@hotmail. Co. UK. Drop me a line and I'll send you some of my work. I live in London. You and I are extreme rarities in this days and age. I'll leave you with two quotes: "Art washes the everyday dust from off our souls" Picasso. And, "I wish to be either alone, or with those who know things nobody else does" Rilke. Love Rilke. Deeply inspiring and transformative. And didn't lou salome get around?! From Nietszche to Rilke. Not bad at all. Email me. Noel

[@noeltroy2634]

@@DrOctaviaCox ps, I'm convinced I don't have to explain who "Pygmalion" was to you. Thank god, for that. When I perform my sonnets I get sick of having to explain just who pygmalion was. Lovely story, pygmaliom. With profound meanings on many levels. Noel

[@Liliquan]

@@noeltroy2634 And what per chance is the day and ages that you think we live in and how is it fundamentally different so that people like you are a rarity as opposed to some other age when the opposite were true. Anyone can look good in the light of empty generic platitudes.

[@haikusinenomine1655]

Dear Octavia, thank you for your excellent analysis as usual. However I feel you missed an important angle by setting aside the questions of power the poem addresses. It is the mighty who are to look and despair, and they might in fact despair, not because Ozymandias is so much greater than them, but because in his downfall they can see the inevitable downfall of all such tyrants. Whereas other people can take heart from what they see, the self-defeating words of power. And while there is the ambiguity and questioning about art and interpretation that you point out in the poem, I have always read it as ultimately a celebratory story that words can encourage us with the good news of the downfall of the arrogant.

[@Liliquan]

Precisely. This poem is fantastically optimistic from a revolutionary perspective. The thrust of the poem is an intense attack on all forms of idolatry. Not just tyrants but towards all who are baselessly worshipped. The baselessness of those practices is a like the shifting of the sands. Nothing can withstand the force of a trillion grains of sand grinding against one. Because there cannot be a king of kings, there never will be. Except in the minds of those who submit to such preposterous notions.

[@marylut6077]

The statue was sculpted from stone and intended to last forever as stone does. The stone lasted. The depiction of the king did not and the body parts are scattered. This scattering could be from vandalism or from a storm or many storms over time. Meaning in his lifetime he may have defeated many kings in battle to become king of kings, but 'he could not defeat the enemy of vandalism or time or even sand. His statue has been swallowed up by many teeny otiny grains of sand. From the caption I assume ozymandius commissioned the statue and wrote the caption himself. An indication that he intended to intimidate his subjects and enemies during his lifetime to cement his power over them, The caption and his visage covey power, rather than a listing of his accomplishments or character. The sculptor would have depicted the patron as the patron wished. By building it in stone he also intended to leave his image and legacy on earth long after he died. So I conclude he was extremely vain as potentates are. A traveler saw the statue and is telling another person, So in a way, Ozymandius’ reputation lives on.

[@jjandj7582]

It brings to mind the images of toppled statues during revolutions.