Ozymandias

The first line in the poem says,” I met a traveler from an antique land.” This creates the imagery of someplace old. The traveler talks about the statue in the desert. It is described as ,” Two vast and trunkless legs of stone. This means they were big and of someone who was important. At least someone important enough to make a giant statue of them. The head is not attached to the body and it has a “ wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command”. This makes me think of arrogance. The beginning of the poem, for the most part, sets up the place and the statue, and the end it becomes clear with the inscription that the king thought he would always be important. Even a giant statue of a great king, can over time be broken and forgotten. I think the sand outlasts the king and his kingdom in the poem.