In the poem “The Convergence of the Twain”, Thomas Hardy takes readers into a tragic event in history, but instead of reading the poem as if it is a moment in history, readers live the story in the present time, from beginning to end. Readers might assume that the tragedy in the poem is the loss of the Titanic and in some ways it is, but the true tragedy behind the poem is the pride and vanity that conquers many people. “Over the mirrors meant / to glass the opulent” (Line 3) the mirrors reflect the vanity in people to let them see what they want or wish to see. ”In solitude of the deep sea / Deep from human vanity / And the pride of life that planned her, stilly couches she.” (Line 1), the ship is so deep in the sea it is hidden away from the vanity that lives above the surface and foolish pride has become a murderer of all those aboard.
The first five stanzas give true value to the poem. Stanzas two, three, four and five not only describe the tragedy itself, but they also describe the ship's physical appearance in a pattern of past, present and future. “Steel chambers” (Line 2) represents the ship before it sank. “Over the mirrors meant” (Line 3) represents the ship at the present time, while it is sinking. Also, “The sea worm crawls - grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.” (Line 3) represents the vein people who were on the ship while it was sinking. Finally, “Jewels in joy designed” and “Dim moon - eyed fishes near” (Line 5) represents the ship after it sank.
The relationship in the poem is not with those whose lives are being taken, but with the iceberg and the Titanic. The subjects of nature and time are noticeable in the poem. The iceberg demonstrates the battle between man and nature, the vanity that created her, sank her. “Prepared a sinister mate/ For her - so gaily great - / A shape of ice, for the time far and dissociate.” (Line 7), here the speaker suggests that the Titanic was destined to meet the iceberg rather then it being a coincidence, in result of the vanity it possessed. It reflects an act of God, a higher power or even the Devil.
The speaker uses a variety of metaphors when describing feelings, “This creature of cleaving wing” (Line 6) is an example. The metaphor basically states that the ship raced through the ocean as if it were nothing and it had no matter. The speaker obviously does not think well of the ship or those aboard it. The poem seemed cut short of content, as did the people who died. The poem is amalgam because it holds pieces to both public and private life. The speaker presents the poem with distain and disgust for the event, incorporating private feelings, while the purpose itself is public, reenacting and placing readers into a historic event. The poem itself is a masterpiece, describing a disturbing event in history. Though the Titanic was only a ship, the speaker presents it as an assassin to all victims of vanity.
