"Ozymandias"

In the poem "Ozymandias", Percy Bysshe Shelley uses many different words to create the image that nothing lasts. When he is describing the remains of the statue he uses words that make the reader imagine that this statue is falling apart, the trunk of the statue is separated from the legs. It is evident that even a statue of a mighty king does not last, "Half sunk, a shattered visage lies" (4). Towards the end of the poem the author used words such as; decay, colossal wreck, and bare. As the reader this made me imagine things that do not last or something that is falling apart. Even though the king in this poem was powerful at one time his power did not last and it is starting to sink back into the earth. The thing that did last in the poem were the sands. "The lone and level sands stretch far away" (14). Although everything around the sand is starting to fade away the author makes it clear that the sand will last over time.