Ozymandias

The poem Ozymandias reminded me of when the US marines pulled down the statue of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The poem developes the theme that nothing lasts because even though his name is "Ozymanmdias, king of kings" he is left in pieces. "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command"(Shelley 721). The imagery really gives you the idea that this "great" statue was destructed on purpose. Maybe to symbolize that he now is no longer the great and mighty. "The lone and level sands stretch far away,"(721) this is what is great and everlasting. Ozymanmdias is a king, like all kings, in that he is both loved and hated. "The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;" (721) His hand may have mocked his enemies or maybe he was a Tyrant that mocked his people. Either way one looks at it he is a king that bullies the weak. Others may have loved this king, Ozymanmdias, because he fought for them and fed them.