A traveler describes a ruined statue in the desert, its boastful inscription still reading "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" while nothing remains around it but sand. This free worksheet has Shelley's full poem with numbered lines, vocabulary, five discussion questions, a writing prompt and an answer key. No signup needed.
Grades 9–12 · Common Core RL.9-10.4, RL.9-10.2, RL.9-10.5 · US Letter PDF, with an answer key on the last page
What’s on the worksheet
Shelley published "Ozymandias" in January 1818. Ozymandias is the Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. The poem is a sonnet that mixes Petrarchan and Shakespearean rhyme patterns, and it is told through layers of voices: the speaker, a traveler, the sculptor and the king himself.
Vocabulary
- antique: ancient
- trunkless: without a body or torso
- visage: face
- sneer: a scornful, mocking expression
- mocked: imitated (in stone); also ridiculed
- pedestal: the base a statue stands on
- colossal: huge
- boundless: without limits
Discussion questions
- Who are the different speakers in the poem? Who tells the story to whom?
- What does the statue's face reveal about Ozymandias as a ruler?
- What does Ozymandias want the "Mighty" to feel when they see his works? What do visitors actually see?
- What is ironic about the inscription on the pedestal?
- What is the poem saying about power and time? Do you think it still applies today?
Writing prompt
Imagine a modern building, brand or famous person 3,000 years from now. Write a poem of 10–14 lines describing what is left of it and what a traveler might think.
The answer key is included in the PDF, on its own page for teachers.