Ephemeral Power

After having achieved the distinction of being in power and wielding control over one's own subjects, it would be difficult to imagine that the elevated political status should ever disappear. Such an idea sets the stage for the main theme of Percy Bysshe Shelley's famous sonnet "Ozymandias." Presumably having a statue erected in his honor himself, the only memory of this once powerful ruler is broken stone, sunk into the earth where "the lone and level sands stretch far away" (Line 14).

For many a dictator or ruler, power gives them the authority to live a certain type of lifestyle. Being in control of an empire of subjects has had the historical tendency to go directly to the head of the rulers who wield the control. As Shelley describes of this king Ozymandias whose only memory lies vacant in a desert, power more often than not seems to disappear after the subject who hails it has died. On the statue of this king reads, "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;//Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"  (Lines 10-11).

The casual irony with which Shelley constructs this poem cannot be lost on the audience. Here may stand the remnants of a statue that continues to embody the character of its subject, yet the "Works" (Line 11) that the king wishes its bearer to hail no longer remain. Indeed, even the comprehension of the language with which the inscription was written would be lost on the modern "traveller" (Line 1) who discovered this "shattered visage" (Line 4). While his face may remain in tact enough for a stranger to comprehend his demeanor, the actions of King Ozymandias no longer hold any weight now that his empire is lost.

Power can only last for a certain amount of time, and the tendency for these rulers to believe themselves to be immortal is the greatest irony of all. Because this poem was published just before Napoleon's death, an apt comparison can be made to this ruler who held immense power during his life, but whose influence waned almost entirely by the time of his death. Just as the land around the statue of King Ozymandias is "boundless and bare" (Line 13), so too is the haughty superiority with which many an emperor has looked down upon his subjects. Only time can know how long the ephemeral nature of influence will last, and the "sneer of cold command" (Line 5) that characterizes pompous rulers will die along with their impermanent supremacy.