Sonnet 55 and Ozymandias Comparison
Sonnet 55 is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed poems in the English language. It is one of a 154 series of sonnets written by Shakespeare. Though it is not confirmed who it is exactly the sonnet is directed at, we know that it is most likely a love interest or his best friend at the time. Ozymandias is another sonnet, written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. This poems name, Ozymandias, was a Greek name for the Egyptian Pharaoh, Rameses II.
Sonnet 55 is a poem about a great love, or best friend of Shakespeare’s. According to many critics and readers, it is about time and immortalization. The poem directly begins with some words of assurance to his lover; no other memorials, however beautiful or permanent, can outdo this sonnet, which will live longer and shine brighter. He’s saying that that the rest of the world has to deal with war and other tragedies but this sonnet will escape both these. The purpose of his writings were to express his emotions and compassion for the person he loves (“But you shall shine more bright in these contents than unswept stone besmear’d with sluttish time” Lines 3-4). He also wanted to show how immortality can be obtained through stories or poetry (“The living record of your memory. ‘Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity” Lines 8-9). This poem is 14 lines long, and follows the rhyme scheme; abab, cdcd, efef. It also has an iambic parameter; “So till the judgment that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes” (Lines 13-14).
The tone of this sonnet is one of confidence; “So till the judgment that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes” (Lines 13-14), “Not marble, nor the gilded monuments of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme” (Lines 1-2). I think that the theme of this poem is about immortality through words, as well as eternal love, because of