“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand,/Half sunk, a shattered visage lies…” -“Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley, lines 2-4.
Although this is an atypical response to the notion of the sublime, I believe what Shelly is writing about can be categorized by the idea. Seemingly, the sublime is in reference to an object in nature or a natural event. Here, I have equated an ancient monument with the sublime. The sublime is always something awe-inspiring, oddly beautiful, all-encompassing, and profound. Ozymandias’ monument is all of these, as seen through Shelly’s interpretation. Right off the bat, Shelly uses the words “vast” and “desert,” which puts us into this giant world of sandy nothingness. Then, we see this huge, broken, antique statue. You could only imagine traveling in the desert and coming upon this monument, which not only changes the landscape of the land, but also provides a sort of marker as to how small you are within the whole desert (adding to the idea of being overwhelmed). Shelly also calls the monument a “colossal wreck” (line 13) which further points to the sublime; something unconventional, and not “normally” beautiful can still be aesthetically pleasing. The all-encompassing size and grandeur of this monument, in my opinion, directly relates to the story (footnoted) of the grandiose King Ozymandias, and makes it that much more gigantic and important. Something interesting, which occurs in the poem as a whole, is the broken face juxtaposed to the in-perfect-conditon inscription on the pedestal. Why is it that the face and body are broken, yet the message remains intact? Perhaps this is completely “out there,” but could it be that this is a remark on poetry and writing? It is clear that Shelly was an avid writer, so this comparison of the body and the words could mean that Shelly knows that the body is disposable, it can easily go away, but words can remain through the test of time, which is truly monumental.
-Michelle Arp
