“What is Shelly saying about ambition in his poem ‘Ozymandias?'”

In his poem, Ozymandias, Percy Shelley discusses several relevant, important ideas about ambition. The fourteen line, sonnet style piece of poetry speaks of a traveller’s story about a worn and broken statue of an ancient king: Ozymandias, the namesake of the piece. One fascinating notion presented by the poet is the idea that human life is, and always will remain, insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe. Ozymandias is described (through what remains of the statue) as a leader with a, “wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command,” who once governed his domain with an iron fist. In the poem, the traveller recounts a quote that appeared on a plaque next to Ozymandias’ sculpture: “my name is Ozymandias, king of kings, look on my works ye mighty, and despair!” This command presents to us that Ozymandias once oversaw a kingdom of great repute, and that the king ordered all to cower in the glory of his land. It is ironic, however, as the poem continues on to say, “nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away,” highlighting that despite Ozymandias’ ambition to eternalise his glory forever, all that remains is the remains of his own fragmented statue. It is ironic as we can now imagine his grand domain diminished to nothing but a dusty, quiet desert, extending for miles into nothingness. Shelley’s poem communicates to us as an audience that no matter how hard anyone tries to have their legacy immortalised, their efforts will always be forgotten by the majority.