The Convergence of the Twain by Thomas Hardy

The Convergence of the Twain by Thomas Hardy

'The Convergence of the Twain' by Thomas Hardy tells us about the

sinking of the so-called "unsinkable" ship called the Titanic. When he

first describes the ship he explains The 'Titanic' resting alone and

still away from people. Here is an extraction from when he describes

the ship, "Deep from human vanity, and the pride of life that planned

her, stilly couches she." He not only describes her on her voyage but

also the life inside the ship. Here is an extract from the second

paragraph describing the ship inside

"Over the mirrors meant

To Glass the opulent" This means that mirrors are only for the rich.

This poem is one of those long, descriptive poems. The poem is

sometimes rhyming and most of the time the stanzas go a,a,b,a. The

poem is fairly regular and long. In each paragraph there is rhyming

and as you already know the rhyming scheme is a,a,b,a. The language of

the poem is quite old fashioned. By that I mean he uses words like

"gaily or gay" meaning happily or beautifully. Now-a-days we would not

really use those words. He probably has one or two made-up words as

poets usually does make-up a few. But I could not find any. He uses

alliteration in the poem. Here is an example "bleared and black and

blind." This describes that the jewels now have no sparkle or shine.

Thomas Hardy's poem is extremely descriptive. By that I mean he uses a

lot of detail apart from the last paragraph. Here are some extracts

"Alien they seemed to be:

No mortal eye could see."

"Of her salamandrine fires."

"The sea-worm crawls- grotesque, slimed an dumb."

"The intimate welding of their later history"

The poem takes us back into time of the disaster of the 'Titanic'. He

explains the poem carefully and slowly. The surface meaning, he first

describes the ship going on her voyage, and then slowly adding in

small, horrible things. After that he tells us that the ship is