Compare how two poets present ideas of power in Ozymandias and another poem in the [Power and Conflict] anthology

Both Shelley's 'Ozymandias' and Blake's 'London' show how nature will always be more powerful than mankind and the attempts made by humans to control it are powerful. The statue in Shelley's 'Ozymandias' is a physical symbol for the power of mankind, the poem shows it being consumed by nature, and emphasises the exceptional power of the natural world. He writes "near them, on the sand/ half sunk, a shattered visage lies"; the use of sibilance here allows the reader to hear the sinking of the statue into the sand, we are able to hear and witness the power of nature. This allegorical story of nature overpowering mankind is typical of a romantic poet like Shelley, this era of poetry is known for its emphasis on nature and the assertion of the natural world over the man made. Much of this can be seen in Blake's 'London' as well, which shows the attempts of man to control nature, and indeed the futility of this attempt. He writes "near where the chartered Thames does flow", the juxtaposing terms of "chartered" and "flow" emphasises how impossible it is for humans to dominate nature. Despite being rigidly dominated (or, indeed "chartered) the Thames continues to "flow" naturally, it cannot be controlled and will always be more powerful than humans. Both poems show the relationship and power conflict between man and nature in different stages, 'Ozymandias' shows the consumption of human creations by nature and 'London' shows futile attempts by humans to assert power over nature; the clear similarity in both of these is that, despite everything, nature will always be more powerful than humans.