Hi Everyone!! This article will share Ozymandias – Part 2 Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It is inspired by a statue of the Egyptian pharaoh, Rameses ll. Composed as a traveller’s account, it shows that even the mightiest kings and empires decline and fade away with time.
In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Story of The Red Cross, Waste Technology and Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture so, you can check these posts as well. I have also already shared Ozymandias – Part 1 where you will get very detailed questions and answers so, check that post as well.
Ozymandias – Part 2 Questions & Answers
Word Galaxy
- Antique – ancient
- Shattered visage – broken face
- Sneer – expression showing scorn
- Command – authority
- Passions – intense emotions
- Read – understood
- Stamped – marked
- Mocked – (here) copied
- Pedestal – the base on which a statue is mounted
- Colossal – enormous
Question 1: Read the lines and answer the questions:
Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies
(a) Who is the speaker in these lines?
Answer: The traveller has spoken these lines.
(b) What was the expression on the face of the statue? What did the expression say about the sculptor?
Answer: The face of the statue looked stern and powerful like a ruler. The sculptor did a good job at expressing the ruler’s personality.
(c) Explain the meaning of the phrase ‘shattered visage’. Why was it half sunk?
Answer: The ‘Shattered Visage’ means broken face of a statue. It was half sunk in the desert sand.
Question 2: Read the lines and answer the questions:
The hand that mocked them,
and the heart that fed;
(a) Whose hand is being referred to in the given line? Who does the word ‘them’ refer to?
Answer: In these lines the word ‘hand’ refers to the King’s hand and ‘them’ refers to his people.
(b) Explain the two meanings of the word ‘mocked’.
Answer: The word ‘mocked’ means copied and tease or laugh at in a scornful manner.
(c) Whose heart is being referred to in the line? What had it ‘fed’?
Answer: The King’s heart is being referred to in these lines. The ruler was a wicked person but took care of his people.
(d) Where do the passions of the old king survive?
Answer: The passions of the King were stamped on lifeless things.
Question 3: Read the lines and answer the questions:
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
(a) Explain the line ‘Nothing beside remains’. What does it say about ‘Ozymandias’ attempt to make people ‘despair’ when they saw the statue?
Answer: The poem conveys us the message that ‘Pride comes before a fall’ and no one has the power to conquer either nature or time.
(b) What is the meaning of the phrase colossal wreck?
Answer: It means giant broken statue.
(c) Describe the landscape around the statue of Ozymandias.
Answer: The statue was in the middle of the desert in Egypt. It was an antique land, lonely and deserted.
(d) Mention three examples of alliteration in the given lines.
Answer: Some examples of alliteration are – boundless and bare, lone and level, sand stretches, remains round.
Question 4: Where had the traveller come from?
Answer: The traveller had come from a place where ancient civilization once existed in the desert of Egypt.
Question 5: What had he seen in the desert? What are the various phrases used to describe it in the poem?
Answer: He saw an old, fragmented statue in the middle of the desert. It was the broken face of the statue of a ruler which wore a stern look. Some phrases used by the poet are – shattered visage, the heart that fed, nothing beside remains, ye mighty and despair.
Question 6: What was written on the pedestal of the statue? Explain it in your own words. What do the lines say about the character of Ozymandias?
Answer: On the pedestal near the face, the traveller read an inscription in which the ruler Ozymandias tells everyone who might happen to pass by “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Although the King’s statue boostfully commands on lookers, there are no works left to examine. The King’s cities, power and empire have all disappeared with time. The king was boostful and arrogant. He did not realise that power is only temporary and is mortal.
Question 7: Who are the two narrators in the poem?
Answer: The two narrators of the poem are the traveller and the poet.
So, these were Ozymandias – Part 2 Questions & Answers.