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Ozymandias (1818): An Analysis I met a traveler 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 snee ....

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... evidence of their existence. The subject of Shelley's poem "Ozymandias" is an ancient king who shared this common desire, but not in a common way. He not only wanted to leave behind a record of himself for future generations, he wanted his memory exalted above that of others, and even above the "Mighty" who would live after him. He did not want to give up at death the power he had wielded in life. The irony in this poem lies in the difference between what Ozymandias intends -- to hold onto the glory of his works after time takes its course with him -- and what actually happens. This great monument's "frown, / And wrinkled lip, and sneer ...