Which words best describes the tone of the poem "Ozymandias"? Some possibilities are: Ironic Cheerful Confused Despairing

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) was first published in the January 1818 issue of the magazine The Examiner. The poem is a fourteen-line Italian sonnet written in iambic pentameter.

The poem consists of an introduction by a nameless narrator who meets with an equally nameless traveler. The traveler tells of having seen on his travels a partially ruined statue of Ozymandias (a name used for the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II). He notes the grandeur and scale...

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) was first published in the January 1818 issue of the magazine The Examiner. The poem is a fourteen-line Italian sonnet written in iambic pentameter.

The poem consists of an introduction by a nameless narrator who meets with an equally nameless traveler. The traveler tells of having seen on his travels a partially ruined statue of Ozymandias (a name used for the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II). He notes the grandeur and scale of the statue, the arrogance of the stone face, and the inscription on the pedestal reading:

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

The tone of the poem is neutral and descriptive. Neither the narrator nor the traveler has any particular emotional connection to the pharaoh who died a few thousand years before the dramatic present of the poem. The contrast between the boasting of the statue and its physical decay in the remote desert is an example of situational irony. The traveler seems impressed by the sheer grandeur of the statue and skill of the artist, but also aware that such boasting appears absurd in light of human mortality.