"Ozymandias" This paper outlines the different types of sonnets and points out which type "Ozymandias" is. It also analyzes and gives an overview of the sonnet.

A traditional sonnet contains fourteen lines and follows one or several set rhyme schemes. However, not every sonnet follows these guidelines. There are two basic types of sonnets which are Italian and Shakespearean. A third type is Spenserian, which combines the two styles and is very rare. The sonnet "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley qualifies as an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet due to the author's traditional use of an octave, to relate an anecdote, and …

…in people, pride, I believe, has caused the undoing of many potentially good people throughout history. There is a great irony of life expressed within the lines of this sonnet. Individuals spend lifetimes accumulating belongings and achievements that they believe are required in order to be content with one's life. For some, all it would take is one turn of fate, and everything would be gone, turned to dust like Ozymandias and his great empire.