Poem Exam
Ethan Sartin
Professor Lavelle
English 1102-06
1 February 2015
David R. Slavitt’s “Titanic” and Thomas Hardy’s “Convergence of the Twain”
Section 1: Poetry Terms Both of these poems are written in free verse. That is, they have no established poetic forms to them. “Titanic” is written in three tercets, one quatrain, and ends with a single line stanza. “Convergence of the Twain” is more structured; it is written evenly into eleven tercets. Both poems seem to have a good mix of enjambment and end stopped lines. That is, in both poems, some of sentences stop at the end of the line, while others go on to the next line.“Titanic” does not rhyme a lot of its lines, but has some internal rhyme and some near rhyme. On the other hand, “Convergence of the Twain” rhymes nearly all its lines, with a line scheme of AAA BBB CCC, and so on. Neither poem has a set meter. An interesting fact about “Convergence of the Twain” is that each tercet each looks similar. The first two lines of each tercet has about 4-6 words and is indented, while the third is 8-12 long and is not indented. This arrangement makes each tercet loosely resembles a ship, thus referring back to the titanic and making “Convergence of the Twain” a picture poem more or less. The title of “Titanic” is nothing special, but “Convergence of the Twain” is more cryptic. It is not an allusion to Mark Twain, but rather the word Twain, means two. Thus, making the title mean convergence of the two, which is a reference for the Titanic colliding with the iceberg. The whole tone of “Convergence of the Twain” is filled with tragedy but is not sentimental, while the tone of “Titanic” is actually ironic and sarcastic. In fact, the irony in “Titanic “ is both forms of verbal and situational irony, while “Convergence of the Twain” uses a classic case of cosmic irony, claiming fate does not care that the titanic sank. For example, “Titanic” claims “If they sold passage tomorrow for that same crossing, who would not buy?”
Professor Lavelle
English 1102-06
1 February 2015
David R. Slavitt’s “Titanic” and Thomas Hardy’s “Convergence of the Twain”
Section 1: Poetry Terms Both of these poems are written in free verse. That is, they have no established poetic forms to them. “Titanic” is written in three tercets, one quatrain, and ends with a single line stanza. “Convergence of the Twain” is more structured; it is written evenly into eleven tercets. Both poems seem to have a good mix of enjambment and end stopped lines. That is, in both poems, some of sentences stop at the end of the line, while others go on to the next line.“Titanic” does not rhyme a lot of its lines, but has some internal rhyme and some near rhyme. On the other hand, “Convergence of the Twain” rhymes nearly all its lines, with a line scheme of AAA BBB CCC, and so on. Neither poem has a set meter. An interesting fact about “Convergence of the Twain” is that each tercet each looks similar. The first two lines of each tercet has about 4-6 words and is indented, while the third is 8-12 long and is not indented. This arrangement makes each tercet loosely resembles a ship, thus referring back to the titanic and making “Convergence of the Twain” a picture poem more or less. The title of “Titanic” is nothing special, but “Convergence of the Twain” is more cryptic. It is not an allusion to Mark Twain, but rather the word Twain, means two. Thus, making the title mean convergence of the two, which is a reference for the Titanic colliding with the iceberg. The whole tone of “Convergence of the Twain” is filled with tragedy but is not sentimental, while the tone of “Titanic” is actually ironic and sarcastic. In fact, the irony in “Titanic “ is both forms of verbal and situational irony, while “Convergence of the Twain” uses a classic case of cosmic irony, claiming fate does not care that the titanic sank. For example, “Titanic” claims “If they sold passage tomorrow for that same crossing, who would not buy?”
Cited: Hardy, Thomas. “The Convergence of the Twain.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 10th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martain’s, 2013. 821-22. Print. Slavitt, David R. “Titanic” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 10th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martain’s, 2013. 821-22. Print.