P.B. Shelley – Ozymandias – Exam Based MCQs
1. Ozymandias is written by: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) John Keats
B) Percy Bysshe Shelley
C) William Wordsworth
D) Lord Byron
Ans: B) Percy Bysshe Shelley
2. Ozymandias is primarily a: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) Ballad
B) Epic
C) Dramatic monologue
D) Sonnet
Ans: D) Sonnet
3. The poem begins with the line: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) “I met a traveller from an antique land…”
B) “My heart aches…”
C) “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan…”
D) “Season of mists…”
Ans: A) “I met a traveller from an antique land…”
4. The statue described in the poem is found in a: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) Forest
B) City square
C) Desert
D) Palace hall
Ans: C) Desert
5. “Ozymandias” is the Greek name for: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) Tutankhamun
B) Ramesses II
C) Cleopatra
D) Akhenaten
Ans: B) Ramesses II
6. The poem was first published in: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) 1798
B) 1807
C) 1819
D) 1818
Ans: D) 1818
7. The poem appeared in The Examiner on: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) 11 January 1818
B) 11 January 1820
C) 1 February 1818
D) 1 February 1817
Ans: A) 11 January 1818
8. The poem was written as part of a friendly competition with: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) John Keats
B) William Hazlitt
C) Horace Smith
D) Walter Scott
Ans: C) Horace Smith
9. The narrative frame is created by: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) a king speaking directly
B) a traveller’s report (story within story)
C) a courtroom witness
D) a newspaper report
Ans: B) a traveller’s report (story within story)
10. The statue has “two vast and trunkless legs of stone” standing in the: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) sea
B) garden
C) temple
D) desert
Ans: D) desert
11. The “shattered visage” is described as half sunk in: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) sand
B) snow
C) water
D) mud
Ans: A) sand
12. The face of the statue shows a “wrinkled lip” and: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) smile of charity
B) tears of pity
C) sneer of cold command
D) calm serenity
Ans: C) sneer of cold command
13. The poem suggests the sculptor understood the king’s: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) kindness
B) passions and arrogance
C) poverty
D) humility
Ans: B) passions and arrogance
14. The inscription on the pedestal calls Ozymandias: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) Prince of Peace
B) Lord of the Isles
C) Guardian of Rome
D) King of Kings
Ans: D) King of Kings
15. “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” is an example of: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) irony (because nothing remains)
B) a love confession
C) scientific claim
D) comic punchline
Ans: A) irony (because nothing remains)
16. After the boastful inscription, the poem states: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) the kingdom flourishes
B) people celebrate
C) “Nothing beside remains.”
D) the king returns
Ans: C) “Nothing beside remains.”
17. The major theme of the poem is the: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) power of money
B) transience of power and human glory
C) beauty of spring
D) joy of childhood
Ans: B) transience of power and human glory
18. The poem is best placed in the: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) Renaissance
B) Restoration
C) Victorian Age
D) Romantic Age
Ans: D) Romantic Age
19. The poem is in: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) 14 lines
B) 54 lines
C) 8 stanzas of 10 lines
D) 100 lines
Ans: A) 14 lines
20. The rhyme scheme is commonly described as: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) ABBAABBACDCDCD
B) ABABCDCD EFEFGG
C) ABABACDCEDEFEF
D) AABBCCDDEEFFGG
Ans: C) ABABACDCEDEFEF
21. The poem’s meter is generally based on: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) trochaic tetrameter
B) anapestic trimeter
C) dactylic hexameter
D) (loose) iambic pentameter
Ans: D) (loose) iambic pentameter
22. The poem is unusual as a sonnet because it: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) has 20 lines
B) mixes Petrarchan and Shakespearean patterns
C) is written in prose
D) has no imagery
Ans: B) mixes Petrarchan and Shakespearean patterns
23. The “antique land” most strongly implies: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) Egypt / ancient civilization
B) Scotland
C) America
D) India
Ans: A) Egypt / ancient civilization
24. “Colossal Wreck” refers to: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) a ship
B) a palace
C) the ruined statue/remains of empire
D) a city market
Ans: C) the ruined statue/remains of empire
25. The poem’s ending image is: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) busy streets
B) green fields
C) stormy seas
D) “the lone and level sands” stretching far away
Ans: D) “the lone and level sands” stretching far away
26. The poem comments most directly on: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) romance and love
B) pride/hubris of rulers
C) the beauty of birds
D) childhood innocence
Ans: B) pride/hubris of rulers
27. The traveller’s description creates a tone of: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) irony and reflection on time
B) pure celebration
C) comic farce
D) scientific lecture
Ans: A) irony and reflection on time
28. “The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed” mainly refers to: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) a priest
B) a soldier
C) the sculptor and the king’s inner drives
D) a merchant
Ans: C) the sculptor and the king’s inner drives
29. The poem’s setting and imagery mainly create a contrast between: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) city and village
B) rich and poor
C) youth and age
D) past grandeur and present ruin
Ans: D) past grandeur and present ruin
30. The poem is typically arranged as: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) 3 stanzas
B) a single stanza (one block)
C) 8 stanzas
D) 5 acts
Ans: B) a single stanza (one block)
31. The poem’s key message can be summarized as: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) love conquers all
B) money is everything
C) time destroys even the greatest empires
D) war always wins
Ans: C) time destroys even the greatest empires
32. The phrase “colossal Wreck” is an example of: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) strong visual imagery + irony
B) legal argument
C) comic pun
D) scientific definition
Ans: A) strong visual imagery + irony
33. “Antique land” + “traveller” framing mainly supports the theme of: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) modern industry
B) social comedy
C) personal romance
D) history remembered through fragments
Ans: D) history remembered through fragments
34. The king’s expression suggests he was: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) gentle and shy
B) proud and authoritarian
C) playful and kind
D) humble and quiet
Ans: B) proud and authoritarian
35. The poem’s speaker is best described as: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) someone reporting a traveller’s story
B) Ozymandias himself
C) the sculptor
D) the statue
Ans: A) someone reporting a traveller’s story
36. The poem suggests art (the sculpture) outlasts: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) nature
B) language
C) political power and empires
D) time
Ans: C) political power and empires
37. Which line directly signals the irony of the king’s boast? (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) “I met a traveller…”
B) “two vast and trunkless legs…”
C) “King of Kings…”
D) “Nothing beside remains.”
Ans: D) “Nothing beside remains.”
38. The poem is famous for its final image of: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) empty sands emphasizing emptiness and decay
B) crowded markets
C) palace celebrations
D) sea voyages
Ans: A) empty sands emphasizing emptiness and decay
39. Which is NOT a theme of Ozymandias? (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) impermanence of human achievements
B) joy of pastoral love
C) pride and tyranny
D) ruin and time
Ans: B) joy of pastoral love
40. The poem’s power comes partly from presenting information indirectly through: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) a courtroom trial
B) newspaper headlines
C) layers of narration (speaker → traveller → statue)
D) stage directions
Ans: C) layers of narration (speaker → traveller → statue)
41. The poem suggests that the king’s “Works” are now: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) stronger than ever
B) celebrated by all
C) growing and expanding
D) vanished / erased by time
Ans: D) vanished / erased by time
42. The poem is an example of Romantic interest in: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) ruins and the sublime passage of time
B) factory management
C) scientific manuals
D) courtroom speeches
Ans: A) ruins and the sublime passage of time
43. The poem’s title refers most directly to: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) a river
B) a city
C) an ancient ruler (Ramesses II)
D) a god of love
Ans: C) an ancient ruler (Ramesses II)
44. The poem was published in The Examiner, a London: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) theatre program
B) periodical/newspaper
C) novel series
D) court record
Ans: B) periodical/newspaper
45. Horace Smith’s competing “Ozymandias” appeared in The Examiner on: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) 11 January 1818
B) 11 January 1819
C) 1 February 1817
D) 1 February 1818
Ans: D) 1 February 1818
46. The poem’s tone toward Ozymandias is mainly: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) critical and ironic
B) purely celebratory
C) romantic love
D) comic nonsense
Ans: A) critical and ironic
47. The line “the lone and level sands stretch far away” emphasizes: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) busy civilization
B) joyful community
C) emptiness and vast passage of time
D) sea adventure
Ans: C) emptiness and vast passage of time
48. The poem indirectly praises the: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) king’s kindness
B) sculptor’s skill in capturing expression
C) king’s charity
D) traveller’s wealth
Ans: B) sculptor’s skill in capturing expression
49. Which statement is TRUE about the poem? (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) It is a five-act tragedy
B) It is an epic in many cantos
C) It is a ballad in quatrains
D) It is a sonnet about ruins and the fall of power
Ans: D) It is a sonnet about ruins and the fall of power
50. The poem’s central irony is that: (UGC NET; SET; PGTRB)
A) the king’s proud claim survives only as a joke against emptiness
B) the king becomes kinder with age
C) the empire grows larger
D) the statue is fully intact
Ans: A) the king’s proud claim survives only as a joke against emptiness
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