the differences of power between poems 'Ozymandias' and 'The River God'
Power is certainly a main theme in both the poems ‘Ozymandias’ by Percry Shelley. And ‘The River God’ by Stevie Smith. Despite them having the same theme, there are many differences along with similarities between the poems. ‘Ozymandias’ is a sonnet poem about how leaders seem so powerful when they’re alive, however their achievements fade over time. Even a ruler, will be forgotten. Whereas ‘The River God’ is a dramatic monologue, about a beautiful woman who drowns in a river. The river is presented as an old god, who maybe doesn’t understand life or death.
An Immediate difference between the poems that are linked to power would be how the poets have presented the character with power. In ‘Ozymandias’ we are immediately told of “two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert.” These are the remains of a statue of Ozymandias when he was a ruler, we can immediately tell he is a man of power by the fact he had a large stone statue made of him. Whereas with ‘The River God’ his appearance does not immediately show power, in fact it shows the complete opposite. The first two lines of ‘The River God’ read “I may be smelly and I may be old, Rough in my pebbles, reedy in my pools”. Here we are hearing the voice of the river god describing his appearance; which does not strike us with powerful motives.
In many cases power is usually associated with greed, possessiveness and arrogance. In the River God, The River God is portrayed as a very possessive man throughout, with the repeat of the words ‘my’ and ‘I’ Another feature of ‘The River God’ that can be linked to power is the arrogance in which he shows towards human death. The quote “But I can drown the fools” shows a real carelessness for his power and ability to kill a human, treating the woman almost like a toy, he potentially considers human life rather insignificant. Furthermore; ‘The River God’ seems desperate to keep the woman on the river bed, despite treating her like a toy. This shows us power and
An Immediate difference between the poems that are linked to power would be how the poets have presented the character with power. In ‘Ozymandias’ we are immediately told of “two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert.” These are the remains of a statue of Ozymandias when he was a ruler, we can immediately tell he is a man of power by the fact he had a large stone statue made of him. Whereas with ‘The River God’ his appearance does not immediately show power, in fact it shows the complete opposite. The first two lines of ‘The River God’ read “I may be smelly and I may be old, Rough in my pebbles, reedy in my pools”. Here we are hearing the voice of the river god describing his appearance; which does not strike us with powerful motives.
In many cases power is usually associated with greed, possessiveness and arrogance. In the River God, The River God is portrayed as a very possessive man throughout, with the repeat of the words ‘my’ and ‘I’ Another feature of ‘The River God’ that can be linked to power is the arrogance in which he shows towards human death. The quote “But I can drown the fools” shows a real carelessness for his power and ability to kill a human, treating the woman almost like a toy, he potentially considers human life rather insignificant. Furthermore; ‘The River God’ seems desperate to keep the woman on the river bed, despite treating her like a toy. This shows us power and