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Shelley's "Ozymandias"

I met a traveller from an antique land


Who said: "
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,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless
things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart

that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away

Ozymandias" is a sonnet written by P.B.Shelley. It


was published in 1818 in London. "Ozymandias" is
the famous poem of Shelley. In olden days,
Ozymandias was a Greek name. It refers to

the Egyptian
pharaoh
Ramesses II. The poem looks at the fate of history.
It also looks at the damage of time

The poem refers to the fall of great leaders. The


speaker met a traveler. He told a story. It is about

a king from Egypt. The story was about a


Palanquin
damaged statue. It is in the desert. Two legs stand
without a body. Its head is near. It is on the sand. By Sarojini Naidu
The face shows the power of the king. The
sculpture did a fine work. All can see the power in

Bearers

his face. On the stone these words appear: My Lightly, O lightly we bear her along,

name is Ozymandias, king of kings: /


Look on my works, ye Mighty, and
despair! But the traveler cannot see any
power. He can see only sand. He ends his
story.

She sways like a flower in the wind of our


song;
She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream,
She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.
Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing,

The poet thinks that nothing is for ever in


We bear her along like a pearl on a string.
this world. No one is great. Time eats all
Softly, O softly we bear her along,
greatness. Poor and rich, king and
common people are the same. Death only She hangs like a star in the dew of our song;
can rule.
She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide,
She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride.
Lightly, O lightly we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

Sarojini Naidu was a poet and freedom


fighter. She was the first Indian woman
to become the president of the Indian
National Congress. In 1947 she was the
governor of the United Provinces. she
has been lovingly called The Nightingale
of India.

Sway : move from side to side


Skim : glide smoothly over something
Foam : mass of small bubbles, froth

Gaily : merrily, happily


Dew : condensed drops of water
Beam : ray of light, broad smile

Brow : forehead, top of water/tide)

The poem tells the joy and happiness of the


palanquin bearers. They happily carry princess to her The Village Schoolmaster
in laws house. The palanquin bearers are taking the
princess in a palanquin. They say that the royal
Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the
princess is not a weight for them. They think that it
is their luck. She sits happily. She dreams about her way
future
after
marriage.With blossom'd furze unprofitably gay,
The Palanquin bearers carry the bride very gently
and they move very softly. They sing a song. The There, in his noisy mansion, skill'd to rule,
song is about the marriage. They sing that they are The village master taught his little school;
bearing the bride softly. She is floating like a laugh
from the lips. They carry her like a pearl on a string. A man severe he was, and stern to view,
She is beloved to them. The bride is like a star in I knew him well, and every truant knew;
their song. She is like a ray of light seen on the top
Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to
of
a
tide.
They carry the princess very carefully. She is like trace
dew or a tear drop. They sing happily and they carry
The days disasters in his morning face;
her away. The princess hears their song. They say
that she is like the bird that skims on the foam of a Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited
stream.

glee,

At all his jokes, for many a joke had he:

The bride is moving from side to side like


Full well the busy whisper, circling round,
a flower in the wind. She glides like a bird
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he
on the froth of a stream.

frown'd:
Yet he was kind; or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault.
The village all declar'd how much he knew;
'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too:
Lands he could measure, terms and tides
presage,
And e'en the story ran that he could gauge.
In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill,

For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue


still;
While words of learned length and
thund'ring sound

When he is upset students talk about it. But


he has kindness. His punishments are to
correct the students. He likes to bring out his
students well. So he is strict.

Amazed the gazing rustics rang'd around;


And still they gaz'd and still the wonder grew, The villagers like his brain. He is good at
maths. He knows surveying, forecasting and
That one small head could carry all he knew.
read waves. He knows measuring. The
But past is all his fame. The very spot
parson also knows his skill. When he argues
Where many a time he triumph'd is forgot. with the parson the village people stand and
listen. They look at his skill with a surprise.
They wonder how his small head keeps huge
knowledge.
Goldsmith was a poet and novelist. He
returns to his village. He remembers a school
master. The school master is brainy. The
villagers love his capacity.
The village school masters school is in a
small village. It is near a fence. The fence has
beautiful flowers. He is very strict. The poet
knows him. The students know him. They
have seen his punishment. anger. They look
at him with fear. Students fate is written on
his head.
The school master is kind and friendly. He
has a store of jokes. Students enjoy his jokes.

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