Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
These are the concluding lines of "Ozymandias" a unique sonnet composed by P. B. Shelley, a revolutionary poet of the Romantic period. Here the futility of human achievements and pride has been suggested.
The poet comes to this ironical conclusion after a description of the broken statue of Ozymandias whose real name was Rameses II or Vasimare, an ancient Egyptian king. During his reign this king was very powerful. He ruled autocratically and ignored the power of other kings because they were inferior to his pomp and power. But after his death all his power and greatness turned meaningless. Even his statue that he got erected in his lifetime turned into a heap of ruins. The shattered face of the statue lying half-sunk in the lonely desert reflected the pride, cruelty and snobbery of the king. But the king had a limited span of life. He had to die and all his glories became futile. This is the truth of life. Nothing is permanent, even the absolute power of Ozymandias was not permanent. It is an irony that man foolishly pursues pomp and power which turn into futility in course of time.
