Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's Mr. Brown here with your English lesson, and it's a really, really interesting one today.

We are going to be exploring a classic poem, and that's poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

It's a really interesting poem that I think is going to provide you with lots of things to talk about.

Lots of discussion in today's lesson.

So let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can read a classic poem and share my personal response.

The key words we will use are: poem, sonnet, theme.

Let's say those together.

My turn, and then your turn.

Poem, sonnet, theme.

Fabulous.

Well done.

Let's look at the definitions.

A poem is a piece of writing that uses creative and rhythmic language to express thoughts, feelings or ideas, often with a specific structure or pattern.

A sonnet is a specific form of poetry that consists of 14 lines and follows a strict rhyme scheme, often expressing deep emotions or ideas.

The theme of a poem is the underlying message or central idea that the poet wants to convey, exploring topics or universal concepts that can be found throughout the poem.

We will start a lesson by looking at an introduction to the poem and the poet.

We will then move on to exploring poetic themes.

So let's have a look at Percy Bysshe Shelly.

Now, he was born in 1792 in England, and he lived during a time called the Romantic era.

He comes from a family that loved art and writing, and he wrote many beautiful poems. Shelly's poems talked about nature, feelings and how everyone should be treated fairly.

Now, Shelly believed in freedom and fairness for all people.

Even though some people didn't agree with his ideas, many people today think he was one of the greatest poets of his time.

Shelly's life was short and he died when he was still young.

Shelly's poems are read and loved by lots of people around the world.

Let me check your understanding.

Select the statements that are true.

Percy Bysshe Shelly was born in 1792 in England.

That's A.

B, Percy Bysshe Shelly lived during the Victorian era.

C, Shelly's poems are still read and loved by lots of people around the world.

And D: Shelly's family did not like art or writing.

Select the statements that are true.

Pause the video and complete this task now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you managed to find the correct answers.

Well, well done if you said A and C.

Percy Bysshe Shelly was born in 1792 in England.

Now, B, lived during the Victorian era? Not the Victorian era.

What was it? Yes, it was the Romantic era.

Well done.

C, Shelly's poems are still loved and read by lots of people around the world today, so that's correct.

And D, his family did not like art and painting.

Well, that's not correct.

They did, they loved art and painting, so it probably wasn't a surprise that he became a poet.

Let's move on.

In this lesson, we'll be reading and responding to one of Shelly's most famous poems. It's a poem called "Ozymandias." Let's say that together.

I'll say it and you repeat after me.

"Ozymandias." Very good.

Big word, "Ozymandias." Now, "Ozymandias" is referred to as a classic poem, okay? Now, poems are often called this if they are widely recognised, that means recognised by lots and lots of people, as outstanding examples of poetry.

Wow, okay, oo this is an exceptional poem that we're going to look at today.

And these poems have been very popular for a long period of time.

So "Ozymandias," let's recap, it's a classic poem.

It is a poem that is widely recognised by lots and lots of people across the world as being an outstanding example of poetry.

And it is a poem that has been around for a very long time.

"Ozymandias" is a type of poem called a sonnet.

Now, sonnets are a specific form of poetry consisting of 14 lines.

How many lines? 14 lines.

Exactly.

And follow a strict rhyme scheme, often expressing deep emotions or ideas.

That is what a sonnet does.

And "Ozymandias" is a sonnet.

Now, "Ozymandias" is a very popular poem and people enjoy it because it tells a story about an ancient statue, so a very old statue and a powerful king.

Does sound interesting.

The poem makes the reader think.

It can encourage us to reflect on big ideas like how things change over time and what is important in life.

So it's time.

Let's read the poem.

I'm going to read the poem to you.

"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 a 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 hearts 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.

'" Okay, I'm now going to give you my initial response to the poem.

I'm thinking about what I liked about the poem and did I have any questions about it? So my response is that I liked the sense of adventure as the traveller tells the story of finding the statue in the desert.

Now, I want to know what happened to the statue and why it's now in ruins.

Now, it's your turn to give your initial response to the poem.

Again, think about what did you like about the poem and do you have any questions about it? This is an opportunity for you to discuss with your partner.

Take your time.

There might have been parts of the poem that were confusing to you.

If you need to, you may want to read it again before you have this discussion, but to talk about what you liked about the poem and what are the questions that you might have about it.

Pause the video and have a go at this task, now.

Welcome back.

I am sure you had some excellent discussions.

Let's unpack the poem together, shall we? We're going to explore the meaning.

Now, the speaker of the poem is telling us about meeting a traveller from a far away, an ancient land.

So you can see in the text it says, "I met a traveller from an antique land." The traveller told the speaker about two giant stone legs they saw standing in the desert, but without anything attached to them, such as a body.

So this already is presenting mystery.

Why are there two giant stone legs in the desert but without a body attached? Let's check our understanding so far.

Tick the statement that expresses the meaning conveyed in the poem.

A, the speaker tells of meeting a doctor.

B, the speaker tells of meeting a traveller.

C, the speaker tells of meeting a king.

A, B or C.

Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you were right.

So the speaker in the poem tells of meeting a traveller.

Well done if you said B.

There is a king in the poem, that's Ozymandias, but he is not met.

He's not someone that the speaker meets.

They meet a traveller, not a king.

So well done if you said B.

Okay, now the traveller says there was a broken statue of a face which was partially buried near the legs.

And that's where you can see in the text it says, "Half sunk, a shattered visage lies." So half sunk means that it's partially buried in the sand, and a visage is a face, so a shattered broken face.

The face had an upset and stern expression, and the person who made the statue really captured the person's feelings, which can be seen on this broken statue.

So the sculptor, the person who made the statue, has really captured the person's feelings that the statue was made of.

So that's the king, that's Ozymandias.

So the sculptor has really captured his feelings, and they still survived.

So that sneer of cold command, that stern face has really been captured by the sculpture.

And even though the statue is completely broken, and it's been many, many, many years, you can still see exactly how the king was feeling.

Now, the sculptors seem to be making fun of the person they sculpted.

And you can see in the permit says, "The hand that mocked them." And there are words written on a stand near the statue.

And those words read, "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings.

See all the amazing things I did and feel amazed and scared." So when the statue was built, it would've had a stand nearby that had that text on.

So it seems to be a message from the king, Ozymandias, himself.

Now, there is nothing left around the broken statue.

The area around where the statue once stood is now empty with sand stretching into the distance, and that's how the poem ends.

But there once was this huge, impressive, imposing statue of a king.

And over time that statute has become eroded and broken.

It's fallen into pieces, and then there is sand stretching far away.

So there's nothing else around it.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of these characters appear in the poem? A, Ozymandias, B, the traveller, C, the sculptor, D, the painter.

Which of these characters appear in the poem? And there are more than one correct answer.

Pause the video and have a go now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you're right.

So one of you said A, Ozymandias appears in the poem, B, the traveller appears in the poem, and C, the sculptor appears in the poem.

There is no painter, so not D.

Okay, time for a task.

I would like you to discuss the poem with your partner.

Now that you have an understanding of it, that discussion might be a bit different to a discussion that you had earlier.

How did the poem make you feel? Use these questions as prompts to support your ideas and discussions.

So how did the poem make you feel generally? So just, did you like it, did you not like it, did it bring up any emotions for you? What did you think was the poet's purpose? Why did Percy Bysshe Shelley sit down to write that poem? What was he trying to convey to the reader? And how do you feel about the king, Ozymandias? Do you like him? Do you not like him? Why? Over to you.

Pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Welcome back.

Let's see how that discussion went.

So here's some examples of things that you might have said.

This poem made me imagine Ozymandias to be a stern king, who enjoyed scaring the people he ruled over.

What does that tell us about his character if he enjoyed scaring people that he ruled over? Interesting.

This poem made me feel sad and angry because the statue may have been broken deliberately by people.

Regardless of what you may think about Ozymandias this was an impressive and imposing statue that was obviously created costing a lot of money.

And as time has passed on, it has been broken.

Now, it looks to me as well, like it has been broken deliberately by people.

So maybe people who disagreed with Ozymandias, did not like him as a king.

Perhaps it is after Ozymandias has died, these people have decided they wanted to break the statute.

They did not want to be reminded of him.

And then I think the poet's purpose was to make the reader think about how nothing lasts forever.

Even a huge stone sculpture can be broken.

So this was a once powerful king.

And now look, his statue is broken into many pieces.

So it's quite symbolic for how nothing in life lasts forever.

Even things that seem powerful and scary now, may not in the future.

Let's move on to exploring poetic themes.

Poems are often described as having themes.

The theme of a poem is the underlying message or central idea that the poet wants to convey, which means give off to the reader, exploring topics or universal concepts that can be found throughout the poem.

Poems are written about a variety of themes.

Now, "Ozymandias" is a sonnet.

A sonnet is a type of poem that has 14 lines.

While sonnets can be written about any theme, many sonnets explore themes of the following: love, beauty, time, nature, and life and death.

Let me just check your understanding.

How many lines does a sonnet have? Is it 10, 14, or 40? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back.

Let's see if you were right.

How many lines does a sonnet have? Well, well done if you said B, 14.

A sonnet has 14 lines.

"Ozymandias" is a poem which explores the theme of time.

Percy Bysshe Shelly explores the theme of time by describing the slow decay of a once great statue.

The statue would've been extremely impressive when it was built, but over time it just become weak, broken and ruined.

Shelly uses the powerful image of the king's gigantic statue now broken apart and partly buried by sand.

The only thing remaining is two vast and trunkless legs of stone.

So the legs are still standing up in the sand, but there's nothing else remaining.

Another aspect of the theme of time is life and death.

Someone's legacy, I wonder if you've heard that word before.

Someone's legacy is what they leave behind after they're gone.

This may be because they have moved on to somewhere else or because they have died.

Now, the king was a powerful man, but despite his attempts to keep his greatness alive with a huge statue, time has made the statue and his legacy crumble away.

The statue is a symbol of his legacy.

He wanted, by paying a lot of money, to employ a sculpture.

He wanted that sculptor to be able to create a huge, impressive statue that lasted forever, that after he had died, his legacy would live on.

But time erodes even huge, impressive stone statues.

And now look, all that's left is a few pieces of a broken statue buried in the sand.

Let's do a quick check.

Which of these poetic themes does the poem "Ozymandias" explore? Use evidence from the poem to explain your answer.

So the poetic themes that sonnets are usually written about are beauty, time, nature, life and death and love.

Which of those themes is "Ozymandias" written about? You may say, I think the poem explores the theme of something because, and then you give evidence from the poem to support your answer.

Okay, it's over to you.

Pause the video and have a go at this task now.

Welcome back, everyone.

How did you get on? Here's an example of an answer.

I think the poem explores themes of life and death because the king was powerful, but now he's gone and all that is left is a broken statue.

And here's another example of an answer.

I think the poem explores the theme of time because it shows what time can do to objects.

Now, we've explored the meaning of the poem and the themes within it, we can read it aloud with fluency and meaning.

So the understanding we've developed allows us to be able to read it with more fluency and meaning.

But the last thing to think about is what atmosphere does the poem create? The poem seems to create a sombre, which means quite sad, and thoughtful atmosphere, similar to the feeling you may get if you saw an old empty playground with all the equipment rusted and broken.

Think about how that might make you feel.

And it's a similar atmosphere to that which is created in "Ozymandias." Okay, time for a task.

I would like you to read the poem "Ozymandias" aloud.

Now it's available in your additional materials.

Use your knowledge of the themes in the poem to emphasise the atmosphere in the way you read.

So we said the poem is creating quite a sombre and thoughtful atmosphere, so that needs to be reflected in how you read it.

Think about how to use volume, tone and facial expressions to keep the audience engaged.

Over to you now.

Read the poem "Ozymandias" aloud.

Pause the video and have a go now.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on.

I have a few questions for you to be able to reflect and think about the way that you read the poem.

Did you use an expressive voice? Did you create a suitable atmosphere? Did you use tone, volume, and facial expressions to keep the audience engaged? Good opportunity for you to now self-reflect.

But also, you may want to ask a partner how they felt you read the poem.

Pause the video if you'd like to have a think, self-reflect or discuss with a partner about how you read the poem.

Let's summarise the learning that we've done today.

Percy Bysshe Shelly is one of Britain's most famous poets.

His poem, "Ozymandias," is about a traveller telling of a broken statue of a king.

The poem explores themes of time, life and death.

A sonnet is a form of poetry with 14 lines, which usually follows a rhyme scheme.

Well done today.

We've explored a classic poem, one that now you know very well.

I'll see you again pretty soon.