Ozymandias

In the poem Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley uses the theme that nothing lasts. There are many words in this poem that reinforces this. Even though there is a statue with the words, “king of kings”, which makes a person think of something great and powerful, the irony is that even this great statue falls apart.
In the first sentence there is talk of “an antique land”. This represents something that is old. In the fourth sentence the words “half sunk” and “shattered” also represent something that is falling apart. While reading this poem, these words automatically put scenarios in my head of something falling apart, that it is old and decrepit. There are also words of “colossal wreck” and “remains” which are also descriptive words of something falling apart.
The various speakers represent a weak person and a strong person and that a strong person can become weak over time. This again is implying that nothing lasts.
The one thing that does last in this poem is the sand. It is in the beginning of the poem in the description of the “trunkless legs of stone, Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,”. It is also in the last sentence, “The lone and level sands stretch far away.” This tells me that the sand was there for the statue to crumble upon and that when you look out over the land the sand is always there.