How does the symbol of the statue and its imagery contribute to the meaning of “Ozymandias”?

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.

Respuesta :

The statue is broken and is found in barren lands. It is a testament to the fact that no matter how powerful a person might be, he can't fight the inevitable passage of time. The contrast where he says that he built everything and the fact that the lands are desolate are a great symbol of this.