In this episode, we’ll explore Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem Ozymandias, which tells the story of a traveller discovering the ruined statue of a once-powerful king in a vast desert. Ozymandias, another name for Ramses II, was a mighty Egyptian pharaoh, yet his legacy has crumbled with time. We’ll discuss Shelley’s background as a Romantic poet with radical political views and examine how the poem, published in 1818, critiques tyrannical power. Finally, we’ll reflect on its central theme—the fleeting nature of power and the impermanence of even the grandest human achievements.

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