Ozymandias and To the Virgins to Make Much of Time:

Percy Shelly’s “Ozymandias” serves as a justification to Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” by illustrating how quickly life and time come and go. The main idea of Ozymandias lies in the transient nature of time: the fact that even the most powerful beings be torn down or overcome just as quickly as time afforded them notable titles.  The ability for time to decay even the greatest royalties becomes an incredible, yet depressing truth. Inevitably, the “Mighty” Ozymandias was remembered only with a plaque on a remnant sculpture.  Furthermore, the idea of a short-lived life perfectly gives light to the request by the speaker in Herrick’s poem; the idea of carpe diem. The entirety of Herrick’s poem stresses the importance of seizing every moment of the day, seeing as there is not enough time to accomplish all the enjoyable things in life while still youthful. Although, the speaker in Herrick’s poem primarily alludes to relational requests, his urgent tone is justified by the bigger picture portrayed in Shelly’s poem. Moreover, Ozymandias serves to explain the importance of seizing the day by showing the “bare” and “lonely” aftermath that awaits life after death if opportunities are not sought out and accomplished. Therefore, both poems use time as a vehicle to hint at complementary main ideas; While To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time stresses that time is of essence; Ozymandias explores time’s ephemeral nature and explains exactly why it is so important to take advantage of the present moment and the available possibilities.