Here, the ruler’s contempt for his subjugates is compared to the ruthlessness of a military commander.

Metaphor: The “sneer of cold command” contains a metaphor.

Alliteration: It occurs in “ an antique,” “ stone/ Stand,” “ sunk a shattered,” “ cold command,” etc.

By enjambing the lines, the poet creates a surprising flow.

Enjambment: Shelley uses this device throughout the text.

Shelley plays with a number of figurative devices in order to make the sonnet more appealing to readers. The reason he did this may have been to represent the corruption of authority or lawmakers. Shelley’s defiance of this rhyme scheme helps to set apart ‘Ozymandias’ from other Petrarchan sonnets, and it is perhaps why this poem is so memorable. Its sestet (the final six lines of the sonnet) does not have an assigned rhyme scheme, but it usually rhymes in every other line or contains three different rhymes. This rhyme scheme differs from the rhyme scheme of a traditional Petrarchan sonnet, whose octave (the first eight lines of the poem) usually has a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA. The rhyme scheme of ‘Ozymandias’ is ABABACDC EDEFEF. Structurally all sonnets contain fourteen lines and are written in iambic pentameter. ‘Ozymandias’ is considered to be a Petrarchan sonnet, even though the rhyme scheme varies slightly from the traditional sonnet form. He utilizes an allusion to a powerful ruler in ancient Egypt to show that even someone so all-powerful will eventually fall. This metaphor is made even more commanding in the poem by Shelley’s use of an actual ruler. The desert represents the fall of all empires - nothing powerful and rich can ever stay that strong forever. The statue, however, still boasts of the accomplishments this civilization had in the past. All around the traveler is desert - nothing is green or growing the land is barren. ‘Ozymandias’ carries an extended metaphor throughout the entire poem.

He describes his sneer as having a “cold command.” Even though the leader was probably very great, it seems that the only thing that survives from his realm is this statue, which is half-buried and somewhat falling apart. He can tell that the sculptor must have known his subject well because it is obvious from the statue’s face that this man was a great leader, but one who could also be very vicious. There, he saw a large and intimidating statue of Ramses in the desert. In the story, he describes visiting Egypt. The traveler tells a story to the speaker. He was a great and terrible pharaoh in ancient Egypt. In this poem, the speaker describes meeting a traveler “from an antique land.” The title, ‘Ozymandias,’ notifies the reader that this land is most probably Egypt since Ozymandias was what the Greeks called Ramses II. Shelley describes a traveler’s reaction to the half-buried, worn-out statue of the great pharaoh, Ramses II.

Ozymandias by percy bysshe shelley