Poetry - Book Report/Review Example

In their creations authors speak of Ancient world's ruins, however, in both cases it is mere scenery, decorations and the sense is hidden beneath. As we have already mentioned it, "Sonnet 55" and "Ozymandias" have a lot in common. In order to see that more clearly let us look at the poems' "garments"****, or, in other words, at their scenery, colors and moods****. Shakespeare's "Sonnet 55" places a reader among the ruins of an ancient city. "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments Of princes"(Shakespeare, W.

Sonnet 55), "unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time"(Shakespeare, W. Sonnet 55) - all of this is saturated with rays of sunlight penetrating though heavy dusty air filled with the sound of footsteps. Reading on, "you shall shine more bright in these contents"(Shakespeare, W. Sonnet 55), we might imagine a thin silhouette of a woman dressed in white walking through the ruins. Above it all is an unbearably blue sky with rear weightless clouds on it. The picture is filled with all possible shades of yellow, mild and warm, pastel grey and just a little bit of dusty forest green curly plants on the floor.

The mood of the scene is peaceful and calm, with the slightest sound of white and ceremonial sadness. Next, a sudden contrast is tossed into the picture: and the colors suddenly change. . . "Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire."(Shakespeare, W. Sonnet 55) - we see ghostly figures of fighting warriors somewhere behind the columns and Mars himself, merciless god of war with a bloodstained sword. All of these create a feeling of a bad dream, nightmare, and a long forgotten horror of the ancient world.

However, the nightmare is so real, that it overwhelms the reader, makes him feel small and helpless. "Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory. "(Shakespeare, W. Sonnet 55)Amidst all of those terrors there she is, a slender silhouette of a woman in white, walking peacefully in the mild yellow sunlight, which makes dust particles look like a golden rain. She is a shade of memory so strong, that nothing can deem it nor make it change. As we read on, ".

till the judgment that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lover's eyes."(Shakespeare, W. Sonnet 55)We stop fearing for her, we somehow know that she is immortal and eternal as the life itself. In "Ozymandias" the colors are rather similar to the first scene of "Sonnet 55", they are yellow, blue and grey. "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies." (Shelley P.B. Ozymandias)However, yellow here is burning hot and uncomfortable, poisonous; it is the color of desolation and hopelessness.

Blue here is called blue only because it is the color of the sky, the best name for it, as we see it, would be pale. In fact, the sky is colorless and the sun is white-hot. So, the grey stone of a gigantic statue naturally reminds of the lack of life among hot sand and sky. Despite "being colored" like the first part of "Sonnet 55",