Class 10 Literature Reader Chapter 10 Question Answers - Chapter 10 - Ozymandias

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow :

1. The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
 And on the pedestal these words appear:
 My name is Ozymandias, king of kings

(a) Whom does the hand and heart refer to?

Ans : ‘The hand and heart’ refers to a king called Ozymandias, who ruled over a powerful kingdom.

(b) How did the king look after his people?

Ans : The king fed his people but was not bothered for their welfare or happiness.

(c) What quality of Ozymandias is revealed in the last line?

Ans : He was cruel and selfish and considered himself to be the mightiest. He was conceited and intoxicated with his power.

 2. Look upon my works, ye mighty and despair!

(a) Whom does the poet refer to as mighty?

Ans : Any other person who considers himself as mighty.

(b) How does he challenge the mighty?

Ans : King Ozymandias throws a challange to other people who consider themselves mighty to compare their exploits with his and then only consider themselves to be
mighty.

(c) What message is conveyed in the poem Ozymandias?

Ans : All great achievements, vanity, pride, etc. crumble and get destroyed, Civilisations disappear with time, so an should not be conceited.

3. Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
 And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
 Tell that its sculptor well those passions read..

(a) What lies in the sand and how?

Ans : Two vast legs of stone with a body, and massive, crumbling and broken stone-head lies half sunk, in the sand.

(b) How does the shattered visage look?

Ans : The shattered visage had a bitter and cruel expession of sneer and cold command.

(c) What does the face tell us about the sculptor?

Ans : The bitter and cruel expressions on the face of the statue tell us that the sculptor had understood the passions of his subject very well.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. How did the poet come to know about the broken statue of Ozymandias?

Ans : The poet was told the story of Ozymandias by a speaker who had met a traveller from an ancient land. The story and the condition of Ozymandias’ statue is conveyed
by word of mouth. This adds a tinge of obscurity and mystery to the statue.

2. In what condition was the statue found?    [C.B.S.E., 2012 (T-2)]

Ans : The statue of Ozymandias was found in a distant desert. The head of the statue was broken and nearby two vast legs of stone stand without a body. The head is half
sunk in the sand. The statue has a bitter and cruel expression of command and power.

3. Who had written the inscription on the pedestal below the statue ? What did it indicate? [C.B.S.E., 2012 (T-2)]

Ans : On the pedestral of the statue the words inscribed were, “My name is Ozymandias, I am the king of kings. If anyone wishes to know how great I am, then let him
surpass my works.” These words indicate the arrogance, conceit and arrogance of the king. The king appeared to sneer at people who were weak and helpless.

4. Describe the surroundings of the statue of Ozymandias?

Ans : The broken statue of Ozymandias was surrounded by vast stretches of sand and loneliness of deserts. These ruins prove that the king’s work and civilisation has
crumbled to dust. Nothing lasts forever, and loneliness, desertion convey a feeling of crumbling under the cruel knife of time.

5. Do you believe Ozymandias was justified in persisting in the belief of his supremacy? Why/ Why not?

Ans : Ozymandias was cruel, dominating and arrogant. He was too conceited and looked down upon the weak and helpless. He believed that he was the mightiest. But his
challange was ironically disproved by time itself. All his achievements, fame, empire were razed to the ground. Fate and time make a mockery of all this. So his boast could
never be justified.

6. What does the partially destroyed statue of Ozymandias symbolise? [C.B.S.E., 2012 (T-2)]

Ans : Ozymandias was arrogant, conceited and was intoxicated with power. His partially destoryed statue, half buried in sand, bears a testimoney to the fact that nothing
lasts forever. This is the true destiny of man, and the passage of time proves to be a great leveller.