One face....In An Artist's Studio

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings..."

My favorite poem is Ozymandias by Percy Shelley.

This poem analyzes the human inferiority among time and death. The story of this traveller telling his experience to the narrator is a metaphor for man’s disadvantage against life and its course. The traveller tells “I met a traveller” (l.1) the story of a statue he saw in the desert. The inscription on the statue and the shape of the sculpture scare the reader: “Two vast and trunk less legs of stone/ Stand in the desert“(L.2), this shows how, in the past, these two legs where part of a possible great statue and men. Power could therefore, be transmitted even after the destruction of the statue itself, the reader is in fact captured and afraid of these rests of a possible monumental statue, that intrigues and incurious us.
Ozymandias, the king in honor of whom the statue was built, tries to transmit power and superiority throughout this statue, the inscription on the monument has this king’s words, which seem to be full of hubris: “"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings”. Unfortunately, all the king’s possessions were lost in with time, and the powerful Ozymandias and his statue are nothing but dust and “lifeless things”.

I was amazed by this poem, because it illustrates perfectly how man feels strong and powerful during life only for the superficial and materialistic goods possessed. As Ozymendias, we are all proud of our “works”, we are proud of them, and of what we built throughout life. But these works, after death, might remain on earth; their relative importance instead, will remain just a “wreck”. Man as Ozymendias, will therefore never be able de defeat death and time. This “king of kings” tried to remain in history, to stay alive after his death, but the course of time can only erase all his hubris and his numerous tries. Maybe not during our lives, maybe after our death, we are all on a same level, we are all dust, and our “works” remain destroyed by time on earth. This shows how miserable man is compared to everything else. Life is therefore miserable compared to death.
This poem describes well man’s position in the hierarchical rang of powers, on the bottom of this rang. Man’s desire of power and the subjective view on life illustrates as well how time destroys all the small things man cares about, things that are really small compared to the rest of nature, the universe and imagination.
Imagination plays in fact a key role in this sonnet; the poet uses a short story, with a touch of unrealistic point of view, to help the reader adopt an objective view on life. As Ozymendias, we are all meant to lose against time and death.

Ozymandias - Romain

The sonnet Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, emits an intriguing and seducing atmosphere. It feels “far away” and mysterious. The author uses a number of different tools in order to emit this particular atmosphere throughout his sonnet. First it seems that the vocabulary plays an important part. The words “traveler”, “antique land”, “vast”, “desert”, “decay”, “colossal”, “far away” and others all contribute to the creation of this antique, warm and mysterious feeling the reader gets when reading the sonnet.

It feels as if the use of narration inside the sonnet also contributes to the creation of this particular, warm atmosphere. The fact that a character (the “traveler from an antique land”) is telling a story creates the ambiance of a story more than a sonnet. It reminds the reader in some ways of a bedtime story, maybe of an exploration expedition in Egypt, and certainly gives the sonnet a warm feel to it.

Now, more importantly, the metaphor included in the sonnet is exceptionally interesting. In great irony, the once almighty “king of kings” who once mocked his inferiors, and fed his people, is now dead along with his entire kingdom, and his statue is slowly falling apart. This goes to demonstrate that one is never truly almighty, not even the “king of kings”, and that power can only be held by a man for so long. Indeed it is shown that only nature is truly almighty, as it always prevails and always overcomes man in the end. Therefore in a way this sonnet also beautifully underlines the importance and the power of nature.

In an Artist's Studio

The Sonnet that I like the most out of this packet was : In an Artist's Studio, by Christiana Rossetti. The author talks about a man who draws non-stop a picture of a young, beautiful girl. This artist seems to be in love with this young girl.


This Sonnet talks about empty love. At a first read I though this poem was romantic. There are many indications that make it seem like it is a passionate love. To begin with the fact that, he draws her and only her, then he compares her to a “saint”etc... But then I re-read and realized that the artist was not in-love with the young girl. It is an empty love. He is not in love with the girl but of the image of the girl. We see this because he does not give her a name “the nameless girl”, because he does not make any attempt to talk to this girl, or try to find this amazing girl in the outside world he just “feeds upon her face day and night”.

"Look on my works ye mighty and despair..."

Rita Dove on "The Island Women of Paris"

My grandmother always wanted to go to Paris.  She would tell, read about Paris in
the library, she would go out and get books and she would talk about all the places you
could go to see, when you went to Paris.  My grandmother never did get a chance to get
to go to Paris, but when I went to Paris, I went there for her the first time.  When I saw
these women walking the streets of Paris who knew how to stand up under the, what shall
we say, the appreciation of a glance or a stare.  They knew how to do it.  And I thought,
my grandmother would have felt right at home here.  Looking at other people is a
municipal sport in Paris, it is not impolite to look.  The women who were looked at and
bore it with the most grace were those women from the islands—from Martinique and
Réunion.

When I have fears taht I may cease to be- John Keats

   When I have fears that I may cease to be is a sonnet written by John Keats in 1818. In this poem he expresses his recurring fear of dying without living the life that he wished to have. All the things that used to matter to him such as fame and wealth now seem to be unimportant. “When” shows that he must have thought about this feeling before. In the first quatrain, Keats shows how much he has to express. Indeed, he is both the field of grain and the harvester. The alliteration in “g” exposes the imagery of the harvest: “glean’d”, “garners”, “grain”. He wants to be remembered as a famous writer and fears to fail. In the second quatrain, his “magic hand” l. 8 represents him as a poet and his ability to transform nature into poetry: “the night’s starr’d face” l.5 and “Huge cloudy symbols” l.6. He sees beauty everywhere and is scared that he will not have the time to show it: “to trace their shadows” l.7-8. In the next quatrain, Keats turns to his fear of losing love: “fair creature of an hour” l.9, “I shall never look upon thee more” l.10. This parallels the idea of time; love doesn’t last long. For the poet, Love has two qualities. Firstly, there is the “faery power” that can change the world for the people in love, making it better. Then there is the “unreflecting love” l.12 reminding us of the illusion and imaginary aspect of this world. The exclamation sentences emphasize his desperation. By the end of the sonnet, Keats makes Fame and Love appear unimportant: “till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink” l.14. “I stand alone” l.13 towards “the wide world” l.13 emphasizes the fact that nothing else matters. “The shore” is the limit between him and the rest of the world; he distances himself. John Keats died in February 1821 at 26 years old and he is now remembered as one of the most important poets of his time.

Keat’s sonnet ‘When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be’ represents a reflection on life and death. The leading theme is fear, as he is afraid that he will not be able to complete all the tasks that he has set for himself. Indeed, he aches to leave a mark in the world with his writing. The sonnet begins with the word “When,” implying that this fear of death is an emotion that he has experienced and reflected on several times. The first two quatrains establish his fear of never being able to develop his ideas and put them onto paper for the world to see. He believes his thoughts can still evolve through learning: “my teeming brain” (l.2), which he also exposes through the imagery of harvest with an alliteration: “glean’d”, “garners” and “full ripened grain.” In fact, “I may never live to trace / Their shadows” (l.7-8) suggests that Keat is perplexed by the thought that he may never be able to fully explore the meaning of something. He then reveals his fear of losing his beloved: “I shall never look upon thee more” (l.10). The closure of the sonnet is somewhat hopeless and depressing: “[I] think/ Till Love and Fame to the nothingness do sink” (l.13-14). By using capitals, he shows what great importance love and fame are for him; without them, everything is worthless. Recognition by the public was something that was important to the author. In a way, this may be what motivated him to write. Thus, death is something that will abruptly end everything: his thoughts, his love and his fame. Although he became even more famous later on, it appears as though it has no true value for him since he is not there to experience it. The use of enjambments emphasizes his continuous distress, which will follow him until death finally comes. This apprehension of death demonstrates how he is willing to accept that death will come, as it is inevitable. Nonetheless, it seems like Keat will not accept the fact that he may die with parts of his life remaining incomplete. What can be perceived as ironic, is that John Keat died four years after writing this sonnet. As he contemplates death, instead of regretting the past, he regrets the future.

The Harlem dancer is a poem that celebrates the soul of african americans living in the north. In this poem, Claude Mckay is creating a festive atmosphere through the diction of party "applauding"(l1)"laughed"(l1)"voice"(l3) " sound"(l3) " flutes"(l3) "sang"(l5) "danced"(l5). The first word of this poem is "APPLAUDING" it brings the reader right into this party atmosphere ,and its written in capital letters which emphasize the importance of the word. The main attraction in this party is a dancer. She is being watched by the "laughing youths with young prostitutes". They are watching her " perfect, half -clothed body sway;". They are focusing on her body, she is also being "devoured" by these people. The verb devoured is usually used for animals. The people watching her are associated with animal characteristic. The dancer is the prey and they are the predators. The only one that seems to be looking on beyond her figure is the "me". He sees her differently than the other people "to [him] she seemed a proudly- swaying palm growing lovelier for passing through a storm." He is admiring her for not paying attention to the laughters of the young people there to watch her. She just keeps on dancing "gracefully". All of those that are making fun of her are looking down on her, for the exception of the poet. He is the only one that is putting her on the same level as him " i knew her self was not in that strange place". In this line the "her " and the "i" are on the same sentence because they are both black, and the rest of the spectators are white.

Sonnet Reader's Response (Shakespeare's 73rd sonnet)

Love is treated in this sonnet, but rather than being dominant, it takes a secondary role, the poet’s troubles overshadowing it.

Indeed most of the sonnet seems to be concentrating on problems and does not consider love as a solution. One of the elements that show this is the amount of lines consecrated for love. In the fourteen-line sonnet only the two last are consecrated to the theme of love. Also, when the poet finally mentions it, he only speaks of the other person’s love for him, saying “thy love,” and does not seem to reciprocate. There is almost coldness in the way love is treated.

The poem is indeed dominated not by love but by the thought of death. He speaks of it directly in the lines 8 and 11, but its power in opposition to the power of love is also highlighted in the rimes. Indeed, Shakespeare thus associates terms designating pleasant and comfortable things to elements reminding one of death, like for example in lines 2 and 4 with “hang” and “sang,” in lines 6 and 8 with “[the] sunset […] in the west” and “Death’s second self […] in rest” and finally in lines 9 and 11, associating the warmth of “fire” with the term “expire.” Thus the theme of death essentially rules the sonnet.

Sonnet on Sonnet-Writing

Here's a sonnet that I thought was interesting, because it acts as a sort of bridge between older and more modern sonnet-writing: it references Petrarch and his Laura, and the "iambic bongos" of Elizabethan sonnets, yet also doesn't necessarily abide to all the codes involved in the process (no rhymes...). It's also great to how Collins is simply describing writing a sonnet, yet at the same time does just what he is talking about in his poem. (A sort of mise en abyme?)

Sonnet - Billy Collins (1941-)

All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen now,
and after this one just a dozen
to launch a little ship on love's storm-tossed seas,
then only ten more left like rows of beans.
How easily it goes unless you get Elizabethan
and insist the iambic bongos must be played
and rhymes positioned at the ends of lines,
one for every station of the cross.
But hang on here wile we make the turn
into the final six where all will be resolved,
where longing and heartache will find an end,
where Laura will tell Petrarch to put down his pen,
take off those crazy medieval tights,
blow out the lights, and come at last to bed.

(From Sailing Around the Room: New and Selected Poems)

On a funny note (at least for me), this is what I imagined every time I thought of Gregor Samsa.

Post your sonnet responses here!!