Shelly uses “sneer”, “survive”, and “stamped” to reiterate the ‘s’ sound as well as “cold command” within the same sentence to emphasize that art lives on, the sculptor’s work survived, even though Ozymandias is long dead and his period of rule long since over. This particular point is alliterated not once but twice because it is, simply, the entire point of the poem. The ‘s’ alliteration continues as Shelly describes the sneer and “cold command” that “…yet survive, stamped on…” the statue’s pedestal. This draws the reader’s attention to the hidden, already destroyed image of the statue it is not proudly displayed anymore, it is buried and hidden and alone. At the beginning of the poem, Shelly describes where the traveler found the statue, “…on the sand, alf sunk, a shattered…”. The letter ‘s’ in particular is repeated on three separate alliterative occasions. The use of alliteration gives the poem a rhythm and flow in addition to illuminating the importance of certain lines. Shelly uses alliteration frequently in Ozymandias to draw attention to certain images throughout the poem. This sense of irony, that a king who was so feared that his people suffered by “the hand that mocked them…” lost his kingdom and life to the sands of history, which eventually overtake all men, runs deeply in Shelly’s Ozymandias. Shelly examines the statue, constructing an image of the king and his rule only to rip it apart in the latter half of the poem by pointing out that there was very little left of even the statue, just as there is nothing left of Ozymandias’ reign. Even the inscription declaring that people should “look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” is ironic the reign would no longer strike fear in anyone for it had crumbled many years ago.

Ironically, Ozymandias’ statue bears a “wrinkled lip” and “sneer of cold command”, features that indicate a powerful and foreboding king, but the statue itself is falling apart. Shelly’s main literary device in Ozymandias is his use of irony to emphasize the decay of political power at the hands of time.

Percy shelley ozymandias