There are different ways to "annotate" quotations, depending upon the subject of your essay and the point you are trying to make in using the quotation. In terms of what we can unpack from this quote from Shelley's "Ozymandias," however, I will offer a few suggestions.
First, the context of the quotation: the description relates to the face of Ozymandias's statue, whose "shattered visage" is now sunk in the desert sand, no trace remaining of the great works he once thought would provoke "despair." We need to consider this quotation in the context of the whole poem: what does it tell us about Ozymandias himself? The word "sneer" suggests an arrogance which is in accord with a man who would declare himself "king of kings." The adjective "wrinkled" to describe the lip creates a visual image, helping the reader to picture the facial expression on the statue. For Ozymandias to have had himself depicted with a "sneer" on his face gives us some indication of how he wished to be seen. His expression is commanding, but that command is metaphorically "cold," as if he wished to be viewed as a distant and powerful ruler, rather than somebody approachable. This "king of kings," seeing himself as aloof and almost godlike, exhibited arrogance which was ultimately hubris, as nothing now remains of his "works."
In terms of the poetic language in this quotation, we see alliteration in the phrase "cold command," and it is interesting that the repetition is of "c," itself a clipped, curt consonant which seems in keeping with an arrogant expression and an aloof ruler. The sound device enriches the visual image.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
How to annotate the quote "wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command"
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