Today’s lesson focuses on the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written in 1817 during a writing contest. The poem explores the theme of human pride and impermanence through the depiction of a statue commissioned by the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, also known as Ozymandias. The lesson compares Shelley’s sonnet to the tradition of erecting statues for historical figures, highlighting both reverence for the noteworthy and the hubris of those who celebrate themselves.