Ozymandias
"Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London.
Key facts
- Poem.name
- Ozymandias
- Poem.image
- Ozymandias The Examiner 1818.jpg
- Poem.caption
- Shelley's "Ozymandias" in The Examiner
- Poem.author
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Poem.first
- 11 January 1818
- Poem.country
- England
- Poem.language
- Modern English
- Poem.form
- Sonnet
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Origin
- Writing, publication and text
- Publication history
- Text
- Analysis
- Reception and impact
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
"Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London.
The poem was the result of a friendly competition between Shelley and fellow poet Horace Smith, using the subject of Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, Ozymandias being the Greek name for the pharaoh. Both Shelley's poem and Smith's "Ozymandias" explore the ravages of time to which the legacies of even the greatest are subject.