Question 12 • 26-27 Ignite English 12 NG KY-English Language Arts 12
Read the passage from "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles."So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rudeWasting of old Time—with a billowy main—A sun—a shadow of a magnitude.Now, read the passage from "Ozymandias," another poem from the Romantic period.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 decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.
Answer
A
Both passages have the theme "time erases everything."
B
"Elgin Marbles" has the theme "art outlasts even death," while "Ozymandias" has the theme "death comes to everything."
C
Both passages have the theme "nature is cruel."
D
"Elgin Marbles" has the theme "decay is inevitable," while "Ozymandias" has the theme "fame survives death."
Explanation
Both passages show that time diminishes even what once seemed magnificent. In “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles,” the speaker sees Greek grandeur mixed with “the wasting of old Time.” In “Ozymandias,” the king’s boast is contradicted by the ruined statue and the empty sands around it. Together, the passages suggest that time erases worldly achievements and power.
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