In Shelley's poem Ozymandias statue has the inscription, "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair" yet there is nothing but sand and ruins. How much control do we have over how we are remembered in the future? What could Ozymandias have done while he lived that might've helped towards the preservation of his statue?

Answer and Explanation:

1. The poem shows that we have no control over how we will be remembered in the future. This is because Ozymandias wanted to be remembered with grandeur and ostentation that he possessed when he was alive, however, his statue makes him remembered as a boastful and unimportant, since both the sculpture and the surrounding environment are in ruins.

2. To preserve the statute, Ozymandias could have commissioned the sculpture with a more durable material and provided something that would protect it from environmental aggressions.