Formalistic Approach to Ozymandius Essay - 828 Words

Formalistic Approach to Ozymandiusnbsp;nbsp; nbsp; While analyzing a poem, a reader notices many things, things like rhyme scheme, word choice, different levels of a poem, and sentence structure. Each one of these things is an ingredient for the four main components of the formalistic approach to poetry. In the poem Ozymandius by P.B. Shelley, structure, style, form, and imagery, allow the reader to look deeper into the poem. nbsp; First the reader must look at the structure of the poem. However, the structure of Ozymandius is difficult to understand. With no set pattern or rhyme scheme, one must truly study the poem to notice particular things that stick out. At first, one notices the randomness of the rhyme scheme,†¦show more content†¦After reading the description, the reader finally arrives at the third and final level of the poem, Ozymandius himself. At this level, the reader actually feels the presence of Ozymandius. After hearing direct words from Ozymandius, the reader has now experienced all three levels of the poem. nbsp; The second component of formalistically analysis of this poem is looking at style. The most obvious stylistic component of the poem is that it serves as a narrative poem. It tells a story using a hermeneutic circle. In its first level, the traveler tells about a sculptor and his statue. In the second level, the sculptor describes both the rule of Ozymandius and his personal feelings about it; and in the third level, Ozymandius explains to the people around him how great and powerful he sees himself. Thus, throughout all three of the levels in the poem the reader discovers a new story, which affects the other stories A second item the reader looks at is sentence structure. In Ozymandius, three complex sentences stretch throughout all fourteen lines. Though each sentence is complex, the second sentence contains most of the information because it continues for nine lines. Within this sentence, one can see the only example of alliteration in the poem: cold command, and this example helps stress the importance of the sculptors statue. Making up the