Ozymandias of Egypt questions and answers of class 12 ahsec  Assam Board alternative English ncert book vibgyor complete solution with Ozymandias poem summary and critical analysis. The author is Percy Bysshe Shelley (PB Shelley).


Ozymandias questions and answers

Ozymandias of Egypt poem summary

In the poem "Ozymandias", P.B. Shelley has penned down the tale of the great Egyptian Pharaoh Ozymandias narrated by a traveler. The traveler gave an account of what he encountered during his journey through a desert. He says that he saw the statue of the great king Ozymandias lying destroyed on the ground. He praises the brilliance of the sculptor who was successful in revealing the passions of the king in his sculpture. The king's proud eyes bear his arrogance. But the irony lies in the fact that the head of the statue was half sunk on the sand and only half of the king's body was standing erect. Below the pedestal bore the lines by the king. "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings look on my work, ye mighty, and despair." The king considered himself to be the greatest of all kings and challenged others to exceed his fame. He believed and challenged that no one could do greater work than he did. But the broken statue revealed just the opposite of whatever the king predicted. The pedestal bears the pride of the king while the broken statue justifies the supreme power of time. None can stand long against the force of time and the same thing happened to the statue of the King. The king remains the ruler of nothing but the desert which symbolizes decay. The half-sunken head of the King's statue is ironical to the proud inscription caved on the pedestal. Like the statue of the king, his boast was also mixed with dust and ridicules his vainglory.

Ozymandias of Egypt questions and answers

A. Answer the following questions in one or two words.

1. Name the poet of "Ozymandias of Egypt". 
Ans: Percy Bysshe Shelley is the poet of "Ozymandias of Egypt”.

2. When and where was the poet born?
Ans: The poet was born on 4 August 1792 in Sussex, England.

3. Which country is referred to as "an antique land"? (2017, 20)
Ans: Egypt is referred to as "an antique land".

4. In the poem, whose "hand mocked them”?
Ans: The 'hand' is the hands of the Sculptor who had built the statue of Ozymandias and been able to carve and mock the arrogance and vanity of the king.

5. Who did the narrator meet?
Ans: The narrator met a traveller from "an antique land" i.e. Egypt.

B. Answer the following questions in a few words.

1. What is a sonnet? (2016)
Ans: A sonnet is a type of poem containing 14 lines, each of 10 syllables. All the lines rhyme with each other in a fixed pattern.

2. Who Was Ozymandias? (2019, 22) 
Ans: Ozymandias was a powerful king of Egypt. He was proud and arrogant. He claimed himself to be the king of kings. Ozymandias lived with the belief that other mighty rulers would not be able to attain his greatness.

3. What did the traveller come across in the desert? (2017)
Ans: The traveller came across the fragmented statue of king Ozymandias lying in the sands of a vast desert. He saw two 'trunkless legs' of stone standing in the desert and the shattered visage of the statue partly buried in the sand.

4. What was inscribed on the pedestal of the statue? (2016, 18, 19, 22)
Ans: It was inscribed on the pedestal that—
"My name is Ozymandias, King of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

5. Whose greatness is actually glorified in the poem? (2020)
Ans: The greatness of the sculptor who had made the statue of Ozymandias is actually glorified in the poem. The art of the sculptor still remains, while the political power of king Ozymandias is already reduced to dust. Art is permanent.

C. Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.

1. What does "Wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command" signify? (2017)
Ans: In the fragmented statue of Ozymandias sculptor successfully imprinted ‘the wrinkled up and sneer of cold command'. This expression on the face signifies the arrogance of the king and clearly shows how the king must have yielded a lot of power over his subjects. It also clearly exhibits how well the sculptor studied the passions and essence of the king's personality.

2. Describe the condition of the statue that the traveler comes across in the desert. (2018)
Ans: When the traveller saw the statue of Ozymandias, it was lying fragment in the sands of a vast desert. The two "trunkless legs" of the stone statue was standing in the desert and its shattered visage was partly buried in the sand. The face was imprinted with a frown and a mask of sneer which signifies the arrogance of the king and clearly shows how the king must have yielded a lot of power over his subjects. It also clearly exhibits how well the sculptor studied the passions and essence of the king's personality.

On the pedestal of the statue are inscribed the words – 
  "My name is Ozymandias, King of kings:
    Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair."

3. What kind of king was Ozymandias?
Ans: Ozymandias was a powerful king. He was proud and arrogant and must have yielded a lot of power over his subject. He built a huge statue in order to immortalize his name and fame. He claimed himself to be king of kings Ozymandias lived with the belief that other mighty rulers would not be able to attain his greatness.

D. Give suitable answers to the following.

1. What is the message that the poet wants to convey in the poem? (2019)
Ans: In the poem, the poet wants to convey that the power and pride of a king is not permanent. The statue of once-powerful king Ozymandias is now lying fragmented in the sands of a vast desert. The might of the king is no longer evident. Neither the king nor his empire remains. All that remains are the ruins of the statue that speak of the artist's greatness. Through this poem, the poet conveys to the reader the idea of human mortality and the permanence of art.

2. What else remained there besides the broken statue? What does it signify?  (2020)
Ans:  Nothing else remained besides the broken statue of Ozymandias. Only a ‘shattered visage’ and two ‘trunkless legs’ of stone lying amidst the bound and bare stretch of sand in the desert. 

It signifies the ideas of human mortality, the impermanence of political power, and the permanence of any form of art. 

Previous Years Papers Solution 

1. Whom did the narrator of 'Ozymandias of Egypt' meet? (2016)
Ans: The narrator met a traveller.

2. What is a sonnet? (2016)
Ans: A sonnet is a type of poem containing 14 lines, each of 10 syllables. All the lines rhyme with each other in a fixed pattern.

3. What was inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Ozymandias? (2016, 18, 19, 22)
Ans: It was inscribed on the pedestal that—
"My name is Ozymandias, King of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

4. What do the words on the pedestal of the statue of Ozymandias imply? (2016)
Ans: Ozymandias lived with the belief that other mighty rulers would not be able to attain his greatness. However, it is only the ruins of the statue that remain and this is used as a metaphor to comment on the impermanence of political power. It also brings forth to the reader the idea of human mortality and the impermanence of art.

5. Nothing besides remains, around the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare.
The lone and level sands stretch far away.  (2016, 19)
Ans: These lines have been taken from the poem "Ozymandias of Egypt" composed by Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

The poet here uses Ozymandias as a metaphor to comment upon the impermanence of political power. Ozymandias lived with the idea that other mighty rulers would not be able to attain his greatness. However, what remains now is only the ruins of his statue, and herein lies the irony. Neither the powerful king nor his empire remains and the ruins of the statue speak of the artist's skill and greatness. Through these lines, the poet brings to the reader the idea of human mortality and the permanence of art.

6. Where does the traveller in Shelly's poem come from? (2017)
Ans: The traveller comes from 'antique land'.

7. Which country is referred to as an antique land? (2017, 20)
Ans: Egypt

8. What did the traveller come upon in the desert? (2017)
Ans: See Above Qno. 3 (B. Answer the following questions in a few words.)

9. What do the "wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command" signify? (2017)
Ans: See Above Qno. 1 (C. Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.

10. The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed. (2017)
Ans: These lines have been taken from the poem 'Ozymandias of Egypt' composed by Percy Bysshe Shelley. 

The narrator here refers to the ability of the sculptor who skillfully reproduced the vain nature of the powerful ruler. The hand refers to the hand of the sculptor who has been able to carve, or 'mock'-in the sense of 'copy'-the arrogance and vanity of the king. The feelings that ruled the heart of the king inspired the sculptor's creativity. It is ironic that this show of arrogance has been reduced to nothing but ruins.

11. What is it that lies near the legs of stone in the desert? (2018)
Ans: Near the legs of stone in the desert lies a shattered, half-sunk visage.

12. What does one see beside the ruins? (2018)
Ans: Besides the broken statue in the vast desert there remained the impression of the artistic hands of the sculptor who had earned the statue of king Ozymandias and mocked the arrogance and cavity of the king. It signifies the power of art in front of the material world. Art is more permanent and everlasting than human life which is futile in the scheme of nature. The mark of the artist's greatness lay on the broken parts of the statue. 

13. Describe in detail the scene seen by the traveller in the "antique land". (2018)
Ans: See above Qno. 2 (C. Answer the following questions briefly in your own words.)

14. Who is Ozymandias? (2019, 22) 
Ans:  Ozymandias was a powerful king of Egypt. He was proud and arrogant. He claimed himself to be the king of kings.

15. What kind of poem "Ozymandias of Egypt" is? (2019, 22)
Ans: The poem 'Ozymandias of Egypt' is a sonnet.

16. What is the message that the poet wants to convey in the poem "Ozymandias of Egypt"? (2019)
Ans:  See Above Qno. 1 (D. Give suitable answers to the following.)

17. What was the expression on the face of the statue of Ozymandias? (2020)
Ans: Pride and anger

18. Whose greatness is actually glorified in the poem "Ozymandias of Egypt"? (2020)
Ans: See Above Qno. 5 (B. Answer the following questions in a few words.)

19. What else remained there besides the broken statue of Ozymandias? What does it signify? (2020)
Ans: See Above Qno. 2 (D. Give suitable answers to the following.)

20. What is the meaning of the word "visage"? (2022)
Ans: Face

21. What did the traveller from the antique land tell the poet? (2022)
Ans: The traveller tells the poet about a pair of stone legs that are somehow still standing in the middle of the desert. Those legs are huge but the body to which they belong is missing the legs are trunkless.


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