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Shelley's Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

1. Where do you think the encounter between the speaker and the traveler takes place? Is it on the street? Is it in the speaker's head? What does this vagueness contribute to the poem?

2. In this poem three different people speak (the speaker, the traveler, and Ozymandias). What do you make of this? Does it make the poem seem more like a novel or a play, where different voices are permitted to speak?

3. There's a lot of alliteration in this poem. There's also plenty of rhyming. What do you make of all this repetition? Does it suggest some kind of cyclical, history-repeats-itself, idea?

4. What do you think Ozymandias would say if he could see what has happened to his crumbling statue? Would he be humbled or would he find some other way to boast?

5. Are there political leaders today that you consider to be similar to Ozymandias, or is he a different case because he had absolute power? Which leaders would you want to read this poem?

6. Have you ever had a strange encounter with somebody from another country? Did it involve a tale about a destroyed statue or something similarly bizarre?

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“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village, though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer 5  To stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake. 10  The only other sounds the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep, 15  And miles to go before I sleep.

1. Why do you think Frost uses the word "woods" instead of "forest"? How are these two words different from one another?

2. Why does our speaker worry so much about who owns the woods?3. Many people have criticized Frost for being too concerned with the past or with things

that have nothing to do with the modern world (like blenders, radios, and TV). Do you agree with this criticism? Can you relate to this poem?

4. Why do you think Frost titled this poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?"5. Does it bother you that Frost rhymes "sleep" with "sleep"?