In both Ozymandias and London, human power is shown to be abused and to oppress ordinary people. However, in Ozymandias abusive human power is shown to be transient - time and nature are shown to be more powerful, whereas in London Blake shows no escape from abusive power.

In Ozymandias, the speaker presents Ozymandias as a powerful and abusive ruler. The statue had a "sneer of cold command" which implies that Ozymandias was a dictatorial ruler as the noun "command" indicates that he demanded that his subjects obey him without consultation. Furthermore, the adjective "cold" suggests that these commands were delivered without emotion or warmth. Indeed, the fact that Ozymandias is captured "sneer[ing]" indicates his supercilious nature which hints at his abuse of power as does his "wrinkled lip" which also suggests that he was disgusted by those below him. Interestingly, the focus of the poem is the statue from which the reader is left to infer Ozymandias's power and dominance. This suggests simultaneously the extent and the limitation of his power; he was powerful thousands of years ago but is not so now. The experiences of the people to suffer under his oppressive regime are not included in the poem.

However, in Blake's London, the focus is on the experience of the oppressed and the institutions and individuals responsible for abuses of power are not directly represented in the poem. The metaphorical reference to the "blackening church" indicates that the church of England is polluted and stained by the chimney sweepers' soot which is an attack on what Blake saw as the hypocrisy of the church in supporting a system which oppressed young children. The use of the present participle "blackening" suggests that this process is still going on - the abuse of power is active in the poem in a way that it is not in Ozymandias. Similarly, the "blood" which is running down "palace walls" suggests that the monarchy's abuse of power leads directly to soldiers' deaths; again, the symbol of the monarchy - the palace - is stained by the impact of their abuse of power. The use of the adjective "hapless" to describe the soldier creates pathos for him as he is presented as unfortunate and victimised by an abusive institution of power.

In both poems, it is suggested that ordinary people suffer as a result of abusive rulers; however, this is implied in Ozymandias whereas it is made explicit in London. In Blake's poem, the use of sounds intensifies the people's suffering and indicates that power is abused to oppress them. The repetition of "cry" throughout the poem suggests that London is filled with sounds of woe and pain; the repeated adjective "every" creates an intensity in the poem as it indicates the ominpresence of sounds of pain. Whilst the people to suffer from Ozymandias' power are not represented in the poem, the inscription on his statue evokes his voice - therefore, unlike in London, it is the sound of the oppressor, not the oppressed, that we hear. The imperative "look on ye Mighty and despair" indicates that Ozymandias wanted his subjects, and other powerful rulers, to feel hopeless as a result of his power. It is possible to intuit that the people who lived under his rule felt the way the "cry[ing]" inhabitants of London felt in Blake's poem. However, Blake also indicates that the effects of abused power on ordinary people are physical; the repetition of "mark" suggests that they are tainted and permanently scarred by their oppression. Furthermore, the physical noun "mark" is used to indicate the abstract nouns "weakness" and "woe" suggesting that their suffering has become tangible. The aspirant alliteration echoes their distress creating pathos for them and antipathy for the abusive rulers.

The speaker's perspective in each poem is interesting in presenting the abuse of power; both poems are written from the perspective of a detached observer. In Ozymandias the speaker reports the story of an unnamed "traveller" and this framing device creates a distance between the reader and Ozymandias. This intensifies the feeling in the poem that his power was transient and that nature was more powerful. The "boundless and bare" desert around the broken statue is a stark reminder of the power of the natural world and the inevitability of time to counteract human hubris and abuses of power. The fact that the speaker in the poem never saw the statue for himself strengthens this idea. In contrast, in London, the speaker "wander[s]" around London which suggests that they are immersed in the suffering that they report. However, there is a detachment between the speaker and the "woe[ful]" inhabitants - the use of the verb "wander" has connotations of purposeless and directionless sauntering which contrasts the repetition of "chartered" - meaning mapped and restricted in the following line. The speaker is therefore in the city but seems not to be oppressed by the abuses of power. Furthermore, he notes the "mind-forged manacles" that "every[one]" else has. This metaphor indicates that they have been indoctrinated to accept their suffering and , therefore, not to rebel against the abuses of power - the image of "manacles" evokes thoughts of handcuffs and imprisonment. The speaker can identify this and ,therefore, seems removed from the same plight instead offering the reader the chance to reflect of the effects of abuses of power from societal institutions.

Ultimately, both poems criticise abusive power. However, in Ozymandias, this criticism seems to be tempered by the more prominent message that nature transcends the human world. In Blake, the protest is more potent; perhaps, Blake is advocating for a rebellion against the abusive power structures which leave us all "manacle[d]".