Thomas hardy the convergence of the twain. The Convergence of the Twain By Thomas Hardy 2022-10-24
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Thomas Hardy's poem "The Convergence of the Twain" is a haunting and powerful reflection on the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The poem is written in the form of an extended metaphor, with the ship being compared to a human body and the iceberg being compared to a natural force of destruction.
The poem begins with a description of the Titanic, personified as a "dim shroud" and a "white phantom," floating on the sea. The ship is described as being "proud" and "pompous," with its "sun-compell'd" brass and "heaven-tall" masts. This description sets up the contrast between the grandeur and hubris of the ship, and the forces of nature that will ultimately bring it down.
The iceberg is introduced as a "shape" that "came to pass" and "crashed" into the ship, causing it to "quiver" and "shudder." The iceberg is described as a "shape" that is "stern and curious," as if it is an intelligent force that is purposely seeking out the ship. This description adds to the sense of foreboding and inevitability that pervades the poem.
The sinking of the Titanic is described in vivid and poignant detail, as the ship is "engulfed" by the sea and "swallowed" by the "dark" depths. The poem also touches on the human tragedy of the disaster, as the "human souls" on board the ship are described as being "scattered" and "drowned."
Throughout the poem, Hardy uses vivid imagery and striking metaphors to convey the majesty and power of the natural world, as well as the fragility and vulnerability of human endeavors. The poem ends on a poignant note, as the ship and iceberg are described as being "linked" in death, their "sprawled" bodies "converging" in the depths of the sea.
Overall, "The Convergence of the Twain" is a poignant and powerful reflection on the majesty and power of nature, and the fragility and vulnerability of human endeavors. Through vivid imagery and striking metaphors, Hardy captures the tragedy of the Titanic disaster and the enduring impact it had on the world.
The Convergence of the Twain By Thomas Hardy
I In a Deep from And the II Steel chambers, late the pyres Of her Cold III Over the To The sea-worm IV Jewels in joy designed To Lie lightless, all V Dim moon-eyed Gaze at the And query: 'What does this VI Well: This The VII Prepared a For her -- so A VIII And as the In stature, grace, and hue In IX Alien they No The X Or sign that they were bent By On XI Till the Said 'Now! II 4 Steel chambers, late the pyres 5 Of her salamandrine fires, 6Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres. Get your paper price 124 experts online Thomas Hardy uses very detailed imagery throughout the poem to explain his tone. And the poem affords the right kind of reader a weird catharsis—an uncanny sort of satisfaction that I shall try to account for later. But it is probably better to adopt the strange, stoic attitude so well exemplified in The Convergence of the Twain. Hardy's poem is a chilling meditation on human vanity and powerlessness before the indifferent, destructive powers of nature.
Another example of imagery explaining the gloomy impact of the Titanic can be found in the fourth stanza where the ship lies at the bottom of the sea. The dreadful disaster will forever be remembered by many people even though it has been over one hundred years since the Titanic has sunk. Schopenhauer writes in section 63 of the book : The will appears in everything, just as it determines itself in itself and outside time. They mock us all, in our Pride of Life. In this sense we may say, the world itself is the judgment of the world. He implicates all of us in it. It is also possible that Hardy, who aspired to become an architect but lacked the resources to do so, criticizes what to him seem the unnecessary pursuits of wealthy people, epitomized in the building of such an enormous luxury vessel.
Thomas Hardy, Author of “The Convergence of the Twain" Essay Example
VI Well: while was fashioning This creature of cleaving wing, The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything VII Prepared a sinister mate For her—so gaily great— A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate. III Over the mirrors meant To glass the opulent The sea-worm crawls — grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent. V Dim moon-eyed fishes near Gaze at the gilded gear And query: "What does this vaingloriousness down here? One interpretation is that Hardy's controversial poem contrasts the materialism and hubris of mankind with the integrity and beauty of nature. II Steel chambers, late the pyres Of her salamandrine fires, Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres. They should not have spent so much time wondering about how great the ship is.
I have spoken of the scriptural and Christian vocabularies on which Hardy draws. VI 16 Well: while was fashioning 17 This creature of cleaving wing, 18The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything VII 19 Prepared a sinister mate 20 For her — so gaily great — 21A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate. But it is there. VIII And as the smart ship grew In stature, grace, and hue, In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too. Retrieved 14 March 2014. And later: Over the mirrors meant To glass the opulent The sea-worm crawls—grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent. The Titanic had, of course, sunk one month earlier on April 15.
VIII 22 And as the smart ship grew 23 In stature, grace, and hue, 24In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too. Thomas Hardy and British Poetry. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. VI Well: while was fashioning This creature of cleaving wing, The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything VII Prepared a sinister mate For her—so gaily great— A Shape of Ice, for the time far and dissociate. The considerations with which I opened these ruminations now find their resolution.
Convergence of the Twain: Thomas Hardy on the Titanic
IV Jewels in joy designed To ravish the sensuous mind Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind. One is impressed, instead, with the insignificance of human affairs; we are buffeted about by forces unthinkably immense. In fact, he served as a member of the committee that organized the event. In this sense we may say, the world itself is the judgment of the world. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2005. Only this world itself can bear the responsibility of its own existence and nature—no other; for by what means could another have assumed it? There is a regular AAA rhyme scheme in every stanza. This is accomplished in an almost satirical manner, given the absence of compassion and not even any reference to the huge loss of life that accompanied the ship's sinking.
The Convergence of the Twain Poem Summary and Analysis
The poem fails to fulfil such expectations, instead focusing on the ship and the iceberg and how the two came to converge. Hardy is critical of the upper class that were blind to the disaster. Titanic versus a Lesson Learned - Hardy's "The Convergence of the Twain" and Slavitt's Titanic". . The ship, a manifestation of human vanity, is described in physical terms, like a vain woman. The themes Hardy sounds in the poem bring all these senses out or anyway, the themes allow for them. II Steel chambers, late the pyres Of her salamandrine fires, Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.
I In a solitude of the sea Deep from human vanity, And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she. This is want, wretchedness, affliction, misery, and death. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. Hardy shows that now all the fires have been extinguished because the ship has sunk into the water. Retrieved 6 February 2012. VIII And as the smart ship grew In stature, grace, and hue, In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.
Titanic as the iceberg itself. IX Alien they seemed to be: No mortal eye could see The intimate welding of their later history. III Over the mirrors meant To glass the opulent The sea-worm crawls—grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent. That individuation is illusory; the notion that it exists is entirely peculiar to man. The Titanic is a thesis, the iceberg its antithesis; they imply and contain one another.
