The Convergence of the Twain
Thomas Hardy wrote this poem with a very evident chronological disruption midway through the poem. Unlike most poets who keep their poems in sequential order to maintain suspense throughout the poem, Hardy seemed to believe that the subject of the Titanic was so well known that there was not any reason to keep the readers in sus-pense of what impending doom awaited the Titanic. Instead, he commenced his poem with a description of the Titanic at present: "grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent"(line 9). Then he proceeds to the "fashioning"(line 16) of the famous ship and continues to that famous April evening when the "consummation"(line 33) of the two "titanic" masses oc-curred--the grand ship made from human hands and the silent iceberg made by the "Im-manent Will"(line 18). Hardy does not confine himself inside the walls of set syllables per verse; every stanza has a different number of syllables in each verse. In the first part of his poem, the rhythm is very fascinating. With proper uses of caesuras, stresses and slacks, Hardy seems to capture the solitude of the sea that he is de-scribing with his steady, gentle sway of words, a "rhythmic tidal lyre"(line 6). While reading this poem, the words
Hardy takes more of an adversative approach toward the story of the Titanic than most people think of or 'choose' to think of when they hear of the tragedy. " (lines 22-24) Hence, "the Spinner of the Years"(line 31), another metaphor used by Hardy to refer to the 'supreme being' as a vengeful God; upon hearing the vain cries of man clamoring, "I'm the king on the world!" as in the movie "Titanic" God responds as in the poem, with the event when God said "now!"(line 32) and renders unto humanity the knowledge that He is the ultimate King of everything. At first reading the poem, it seemed to reveal five stanzas describing the "gilded gear"(line 14) at the bottom of the sea and six stanzas that refer to the ship and to the ice-berg converging at a point so "far and dissociate"(line 21). The era when the 'Titanic' was built was a time that the production of goods was rapidly evolving. Consequently, I believe that Hardy does not want us to share in the travesty that they have experienced. seemed to move persistently slowly up and down like the tide: (I) "In a solitude of the sea/ Deep from human vanity, / And the Pride of life that planned her, stilly couches she"(lines 1-3). Instead of a tragic poem of the people involved in this tragic event, Hardy distances himself from the picture, far enough just to see the two grand and noble objects, a Godlike view solely focused on the two massive entities. Hardy also numbers all of the eleven stanzas of his poem. God, on the other hand, heard these vain remarks and decided to play a game with the people. People relate emotionally to the story of the Titanic by watching the movie that was released a few years ago because it is from the point of view of the people on the ship. We see a romantic mood portrayed by the people on the ship and the tragedy suf-fered in the loss of their loved ones. Everything had to be made to be faster, larger, stronger and more efficient, thus resulting in the building of the Titanic. However, an enjambment oc-curs between stanza VI and stanza VII, as if these two stanzas were meant to be one: "The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything / Prepared a sinister mate"(lines 18/19). This grand and "opulent"(line 8) machine represented a spectacular symbol of power that was not a match for God.
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