Read the following poem and answer questions

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

What is the irony of "Ozymandias"?

Ozymandias thought he would be eternally powerful with his statue, yet the only lasting pieces of his legacy are in ruins.

The correct answer is OPTION 1 - Ozymandias thought he would be eternally powerful with his statue, yet the only lasting pieces of his legacy are in ruins.

The poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley highlights the irony of Ozymandias's belief in his own power and legacy. He erected a grand statue to immortalize his greatness, yet the statue has fallen into ruins, and the surrounding landscape is barren. This contrasts sharply with the king's boastful words, "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" The irony lies in the fact that instead of inspiring awe, Ozymandias's legacy is a reminder of the impermanence of power and the inevitable decline of all rulers and empires.