Despite the great differences between the many cultures that make up the world's population, certain key characteristics, some good and some bad, have manifested themselves in every civilization, regardless of the time or of the place. A negative characteristic that has appeared repeatedly in world history is man's desire for power. In the sonnet “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, power, which humans constantly fight for and which is also the cause of the arrogance of many, is shown as insignificant through the description of the ruins of a statue. The statue depicts an ancient ruler, Ozymandias, and throughout the poem he is characterized as powerful, yet arrogant due to his power. Shelley mocks Ozymandias, once great and feared, now little known and whose empire has decayed over time. Percy Shelley used the poetic form of "Ozymandias" and the structure of each line, including punctuation, word placement and quotations, to contribute to the description of the statue and its setting, which in turn supports the he central idea that the power of man and all human creations are insignificant in the face of the passage of time. In "Ozymandias", Shelley shows the insignificance of human power over time by describing a statue, which represents a once powerful man, which now lies in ruins. The poem begins, “I met a traveler from an ancient country / Who said: Two vast, trunkless legs of stone / Standing in the desert…” (1-3). The ambiguity as to who told the speaker about the statue and where the statue is located alludes to the lack of importance of the once great and powerful man the sculpture represents. If the location of the decaying artwork were made clearer, it would imply that the power of man had survived the passage...... middle of paper ......10), n has not been spared by the passage of time. . This central theme is well supported by the poetic structure of the poem. The way each line is structured changes the way it is read, and in poetry, the way a line is read can be just as important as the words that make it up. There is meaning tied to many small details in the structure of this poem, which include the punctuation, use of alliteration, and placement of different components throughout. The poetic form of “Ozymandias” was used to facilitate the description of the statue and setting, and this description helps support the central message of the destructiveness of time against human power and creation. Works Cited Ferguson, Margaret W., Mary Jo Salter and Jon Stallworthy. ""Ozymandias"" The Norton Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. New York: Norton &, 2005. 870+. Print.