How is the passage of time created in "Ozymandias" and " I Remember, I Remember"?

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How is the passage of time created in “Ozymandias” and “ I Remember, I Remember”?

In the poems “Ozymandias” and “I Remember, I Remember”, the poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Thomas Hood, create the passage of time by using carefully selected language and images.

 

In “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley the poet tells us about the meeting of a “traveller” who describes the story of Ozymandias’s “shattered” statue. The traveller tells us how the statue was once great but is now forgotten and abandoned in “the desert”. The head of the statue is separate and buried in the sand. The meaning of the poem is that human power is a temporary possession, and time is the one that takes it away.

 Shelley uses many methods to show the passage of time. One of which is the structure of the poem. Shelley uses a sonnet structure so he could split the poem up effectively.  The passage of time is demonstrated by using an octave and a sestet. In the octave Shelley talks about how powerful Ozymandias was, and in the sestet he talks about how Ozymandias’s power has gone. This successfully highlights that time has past and power has faded.

 

In the octave Shelley uses ‘antique land’ to describe the grandeur of where Ozymandias’s statue was in his time of glory. Also if the statue was to ‘stand in the desert’ this might symbol that Ozymandias was strong and powerful just like his statue, which was able to withstand the ravages of nature. His ‘wrinkled lip’ and ‘sneer of cold command’ also suggest in his prime he was a man worth fighting against. He was strong. His now ‘half sunk’ statue may imply that not only his statue is buried, but all memory of his power, which has faded from human minds. For his power to have faded, a great deal of time must have past.

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In the sestet Shelley talks about what has become of Ozymandias.  In comparison to the octave it shows the passage of time. The statue is alone, now ‘nothing besides remains’, showing that his power that was so great has been forgotten and none of his power remains. The ‘colossal’ power Ozymandias had has now turned to a ‘wreck’; his greatness had faded. The alliteration seen in ‘boundless and bare’ gives the impression of distance and loneliness suggesting this is what Ozymandias may feel now he is no longer powerful and great.

The poem shows that in the end time ...

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