Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land, Meaning: The speaker reports meeting a traveler from a very old place.

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Meaning: The story is passed to us indirectly through that traveler.

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Meaning: The ruins begin with huge broken legs standing in the desert.

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, Meaning: The emptiness around them makes the remains feel lonely and grand.

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Meaning: A damaged face lies partly buried nearby.

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Meaning: Its expression still shows pride and cruelty.

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, Meaning: The sculptor understood those harsh feelings well.

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; Meaning: Art has preserved them even after the ruler died.

And on the pedestal, these words appear: Meaning: The artist copied the tyrant's spirit, and the ruler once lived on that power.

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Meaning: Now the inscription on the statue is introduced.

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Meaning: The king boasts of being the greatest ruler.

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Meaning: He commands powerful people to look at his achievements and despair.

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare Meaning: But the boast is now empty because nothing remains.

The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Meaning: All that is left is ruin and decay.