Ozymandias


by Percy Bysshe Shelley


I met a traveller from an antique land


Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone


Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,


Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,


And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,


Tell that its sculptor well those passions read


Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,


The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;


And on the pedestal these words appear:


"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:


Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"


Nothing beside remains. Round the decay


Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare


The lone and level sands stretch far away.


What is the central theme of the poem?


Question 3 options:


Man’s excessive pride will inevitably lead to his decline and fall from power.



All gods have mortal traits.



Traveling the world exposes people to many cultures.



Material things will eventually be destroyed.