NCERT CBSE for Class 10 English Literature Chapter 10 Ozymandias Important Questions
Question 1.
What is ironic about the inscription on the pedestal of Ozymandias’ statue ?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
The inscription on the pedestal of Ozymandias statue says I am Ozymandias, the king of kings, look on my works, ye mighty and despair. This suggests that the king was very boastful, vain and arrogant. He thought that his kingdom would remain forever. But his kingdom was no where to be seen and even his own statue was in a dilapidated state. He failed to realise that life is ephemeral.
Question 2.
Who does the ‘shattered visage’ in the poem, ‘Ozymandias’, belong to and why is it ‘half sunk’ ?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
It belongs to the kind Ozymandias. It is in a shattered condition as it is ravaged by time. King Ozymandias had got the statue created as a symbol of his power and mightiness but the time destroyed it. Time is all powerful and can destroy everything.
Question 3.
Why does Ozymandias refer to himself as ‘king of kings’ ?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
Ozymandias was a mighty king who had defeated many of the kings around his kingdom and had acquired those kingdoms. He was proud of his glory and power. He felt that he was the mightiest of all.
Question 4.
What is ironic about the fate of Ozymandias ?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
Ozymandias, the king, had got written at the pedestal of the statue, I am the king of kings’. But the irony is that the king’s statue was lying in the dust. He got a statue built to immortalise his name but he forgot that nothing could stand against time and powerful elements of nature.
Question 5.
In the poem, ‘Ozymandias’, the poet says, ‘the hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed’. How does the hand ‘mock’ them?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
The ‘hand’ here is the hand of the sculptor. The sculptor was really good at his job as he was able to read not only the face but also the heart of the king and portrayed the feelings of the king on the statue so clearly that even though the statue was destroyed, the feelings could be well-read.
Long Answer Type Question [4 Marks]
Question 6.
Bring out the irony in the words, "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings, Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" as inscribed on the pedestal of the statue. What lesson does this irony teach us?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
Ozymandias, a powerful king of Egypt, was proud of his glory and achievements. He got a statue built in his name and tried to get himself immortalised. But the statue couldn’t withstand the powerful influence of time and with the passage of time it was destroyed. The statue lay broken in the lonely sands symbolising that time is all powerful, Everything in this life is ephemeral and transient. Nothing stays forever. Everything in this world decays with time. The poem highlights the vanity of human glory and power.
Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks]
Question 7.
What quality of King Ozymandias does the poem reflect?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
The poem conveys that Ozymandias was a very powerful ruler. He had immense pride of his strength. Owing to his achievements he had become arrogant. He was indeed an authoritarian and a despot. His wishes were laws. He had desire of being remembered by the posterity as a very powerful ruler.
Question 8.
"The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed." Whose hand and heart are referred to in this line? Why?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
In this line the hand of the sculptor and the heart of Ozymandias are referred to. The hands of the sculptor made the statue of Ozymandias. The sculptor was so skilled that he expressed all the feelings of the heart of Ozymandias on his statue. The face of the statue was telling that the man was so cruel and heartless.
Question 9.
What did the traveller see in the desert?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
The traveller intimated the narrator that he came across a queer scene in a desert
while he was travelling to an ancient land. He beheld two vast and trunkless legs of stone standing in the desert. Near the trunkless legs a human face lay half buried in the sand. The sculptor of the statue very aptly carved the emotions of the despot whose statue it was.
Question 10.
What message does the poem, ‘Ozymandias’ convey?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
The icy hands of time leave nothing in this world. All human emotions like arrogance,frown, sneer, haughtiness, etc. vanish into thin air in the course of time. Time is so powerful that even the statue made of stone could not resist it. Ozymandias realised the futility of his vices. People must take a lesson from his life.
Question 11.
What feelings does the partially destroyed statue of Ozymandias convey?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
The partially destroyed statue of Ozymandias conveys the feelings that time is the most powerful thing in the world. It also expresses that the sculptor of the statue was a very skilled person. The ruler was full of scorn and hostility. He was drunk with power and authority. He threw a challenge to all the powerful persons of the contemporary world.
Question 12.
What words were written on the pedestal of the broken statue? What did they show?
Year of Question:(2013)
Answer:
The pedestal of the statue had a brief description of the ruler whose statue it was. The mighty and the most powerful ruler of his time claimed himself to be ‘the king of kings’. This despot was drunk with authority and power. He threw a challenge to all the contemporary rulers. His intention was to outshine them.
Long Answer Type Question [4 Marks]
Question 13.
Describe how Shelley brings out the futility of power and riches in the poem, ‘Ozymandias’.
Year of Question:(2012)
Answer:
The icy hands of time leave none. Nothing is more powerful than time. Our glory, grandeur and power are only a nine days’ wonder. Ozymandias was ruthless and he had hatred and cold command. He demonstrated pride and sneer. The great sculptor of his time also carved out the emotions of Ozymandias on the face of his statue. ‘The wrinkled lip’ and ‘sneer of cold command’ say that he was drunk with pelf, power and authority. In the course of time all the pelf and power dwindled to nothingness. The statue of Ozymandias was spilled all around the desert in a very bad state. The sands symbolising death and extinction had engulfed it. All the power and riches had become futile. Time had swallowed them fully. Whatsoever he got carved on the pedestal of his statue could not stand against perpetually powerful swords of time. Ozymandias displays his lamentation and regret.
Extract Based Question [3 Marks]
Question 14.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.
its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.
Year of Question:(2014)
What do "lifeless things" refers to?
How do we know that he was a good sculptor?
How did the heart feed the passions?
Answer:
The ‘lifeless things’ refers to the broken pieces of the statue of Ozymandias.
The sculptor read the emotions on the face of Ozymandias and clearly transferred them into stone.
Using his skill the sculptor expressed the emotions of the cruel heart of the ruler on the face of his statue.
Long Answer Type Question [4 Marks]
Question 15.
What message does the poem, ‘Ozymandias’ convey?
Year of Question:(2014)
Answer:
The same as answer no. 13.
Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks]
Question 16.
Describe the statue of Ozymandias in the desert.
Year of Question:(2012)
Answer:
The statue was in broken state. There were two vast and trunkless legs of stone. The head of the statue was lying on the ground, half buried in the sands of the solitary and vast desert. The broken parts of the statue were conveying that they were the parts of the statue of a very powerful but cruel and arrogant despot. The powerful strokes of time had dwindled the statue of stone to nothingness.
Question 17.
What message did the poet convey in the poem, ‘Ozymandias’?
Year of Question:(2012)
Answer:
The same as answer no. 10.
Question 18.
Which sight was seen by the traveller in the desert?
Year of Question:(2012)
Answer:
The same as answer no. 9.
Question 19.
Bring out the irony in the poem, "Ozymandias".
Year of Question:(2012)
Answer:
Ozymandias was a despot of an ancient Kingdom. He had desire of being called asking of kings. He was drunk with pelf, power and authority. For others he had only sneers of cold command. He tried to attain immortality but no trace of him and his works can be seen in the world. The miserable state of his statue mock at his claim of being king of kings.
Question 20.
What message is conveyed through the poem, ‘Ozymandias’?
Year of Question:(2012)
Answer:
The same as answer no. 10.
Question 21.
What was written on the pedestal of the statue? What does it indicate?
Year of Question:(2012)
Answer:
In his endeavour to immortalise himself, Ozymandias got his vast statue of stone built. On its pedestal he got carved: ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings : Look upon my works, Ye mighty, and despair’.These words indicate that he wanted to convey the people a bitter truth of human life. The icy hands of time dwindled his pelf, power, arrogance, brutality, etc. to nothingness.
Important Questions and Answers from "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Question1.
What is the setting of the poem?
Answer:
- The poem is set in a desert
- The narrator meets a traveler who describes the scene
- The setting emphasizes the loneliness and emptiness around the ruins of a once-great empire
Question2.
What does the expression on the face of the statue tell us?
Answer:
- The expression is one of contempt or scorn
- It reflects Ozymandias arrogance and his cold command over his subjects
- The sculptor captured the kings emotions well, showing his pride and harshness
Question3.
What does Ozymandias mean by calling himself "King of Kings"?
Answer:
- Ozymandias refers to himself as "King of Kings" to boast about his power and superiority over other rulers
- He believed that no one could surpass his greatness
- This line highlights his arrogance and pride
Question4.
What is the irony in the poem?
Answer:
- Irony in the poem lies in the contrast between Ozymandias boastful words and the ruined state of his statue
- He once ruled with great power, but now, nothing remains except a broken statue in the vast desert
- His declaration, "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" becomes ironic because his "works"
have been reduced to nothing
Question5.
Explain the meaning of "Nothing beside remains."?
Answer:
- This phrase highlights that all of Ozymandias power and achievements have disappeared
- All that is left are the ruins of his statue, while the rest of his empire has vanished
- The phrase emphasizes the ephemeral nature of human achievements
Question6.
What message is conveyed through the poem?
Answer:
- Power and glory are temporary; even the mightiest rulers will be forgotten over time
- The poem conveys the transient nature of human achievements and how time erases everything
- The desert surrounding Ozymandias broken statue symbolizes how nature and time conquer all
Question7.
Describe Ozymandias personality based on the poem?
Answer:
- Ozymandias was an arrogant and prideful ruler
- His sneer and cold command indicate he ruled with harshness and contempt for others
- He believed in his eternal greatness, but the ruined statue shows that his power was temporary