Preview

The Convergence of the Twain

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
559 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Convergence of the Twain
-> The poem The Convergence of the Twain, by Thomas Hardy, is about the sinking of the Titanic. The title alone describes the ship and the iceberg meeting as one. By choosing this title, the author automatically conveys a seriousness of the poem. The author uses various literary techniques to convey his mockery and careless attitude towards the sinking of the ship.
-> In the first five stanzas, the author discusses the already submerged ship. "Stilly couches she," describes the ship resting on the bottom of the ocean. The lines, "Jewels in joy designed…lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind", point out the waste of money, technology and craftsmanship going down with the ship which is consistently mentioned in these stanzas. In the next six stanzas he describes the iceberg and the ship meeting together as one in destiny.
-> The use of personification found in the last five stanzas gives the ship its own power. The author refers to the ship as "her" which makes the ship sound as though it has a mind of its own. The ship is also described as "smart and growing in grace, stature, and hue." This means that the ship was growing in confidence. "She" thought she was untouchable and unsinkable. His attitude reflects his thoughts that the ship was on route to destiny, and no kind of human powers could stop it.
-> The next literary technique used is irony. The lines "Over the mirrors meant To glass the opulent the sea-worm crawls-grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent," (stanza III) shows that the glamorous things were now nothing more than a sea floor for the worms. Also all the jewels that were present on the ship, being worn by first-class passengers were now sitting at the bottom of the ocean floor. The usage of irony represents the loss of the ship, instead of the loss of life. These lines are indicative of the author's attitude towards what the ship stood for. He didn't want to talk about the tragedy with all the lives lost, instead he

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The article “Into The Dark Water” by Lauren Tarshis is about what happened to the Titanic. Lauren Tarshis used quotes to show what Jack Thayer a 17 year old boy on the ship. Lauren Tarshis put what Jack was thinking about. It shows what it's really like to be through this situation.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. What metaphors does Holmes use to describe the ship in stanzas one and two of "Old Ironsides"?…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    English 3.05

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What metaphors does Holmes use to describe the ship in stanzas one and two of "Old Ironsides"?…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    English3

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The point of the poem isn't so much to have the ship symbolize anything. It was actually written as a satire and criticism of the government's intention to scrap her. It was partly due to the popular outcry following the release of this Holmes' poem that the government decided to preserve the ship.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mark Twain's use of picturesque diction, symbolic punctuation, composed sentence formation, and fluent organization in this particular passage are overflowing. He uses these literary techniques to help him create the movement of the raft and time as Huck is describing it. Twain's description makes the journey seem like a peaceful experience.…

    • 858 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Twain’s use of long, descriptive sentences and sensory imagery reflect the natural beauty of human morality and nature. First, Twain characterizes the river as the inner beauty and morality of man. As Huck floats along the peaceful…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Old Ironsides

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Holmes’s use of continuous personification of the ship, comparing it to a powerful female, really helped in relaying the prideful theme and sentimental tone. An example of this personification could be “Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood,” (Line 9). This sentence shows how Holmes respected the ship’s past, giving away the sentimental tone, and was proud of its accomplishments. Holmes also used metaphors to describe the ship’s prowess. “The meteor of the ocean air” (Line 7) compares the ship’s cannonballs to meteors, showing how powerful they were. The use of battle imagery in general lets the reader understand the prideful tone.…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This poem is telling a touching story of the decision to dismantle the Constitution. However, to truly understand this poem you must first learn background on the Constitution. The Constitution was a wooden ship, and heavy frigate of navy named after the written Constitution. The Constitution is famous for defeating five British ships in the war of 1812. This ship served as a symbol of peace and independence for the American people. While reading the poem you can infer that the speaker of the poem is an individual that was once aboard ship. Throughout this piece the tone of this poem shifts from admiration to angry near the end. This is established by the line twenty, “And there should be her grave”. This line was written to represent that the disagreement he had with the ship getting dismantle and rather would have it be damaged at sea.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Convergence of the Twain

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Convergence of the Twain, describes the event of the Titanic through the words of Thomas Hardy. He discusses the ship, and its history in detail. He uses strong diction, imagery, and his rhyme scheme in order to express the idea that fate is fixed, and the Titanic’s fate was sinking. He begins by using his title to start the idea off. The word Twain, stands for two; The Convergence of the Two. Right from the start, a reader gets that idea that coming together is the topic of the poem.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Convergence of the Twain” the author uses many poetic touches such as anthropomorphism, antithesis, metaphors, irony, and tragedy to explain the speaker’s attitude towards the sinking of the ship. The speaker/author right away takes time to personify the ship in the title; ‘The Convergence of the Twain’ means the coming together of the two, as in marriage. This shows a connection to the ship rather than writing ‘the ship sunk.’ The author/speaker also takes the time to foreshadow the tragedy of the ship in the first stanza. “In a solitude of the sea deep from human vanity, and the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she,” tells the reader that this beautiful, magnificent ship which was so proud and glorious is now hidden…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Titanic is more emotionally appealing to me. “The Convergence of Twain” was dark and wasn’t as appealing to me. “Titanic” used works to make the story seen tragic, but its denotation of the words made the deaths of many seem quick. The word choice seemed as if the author tried to help me cope with the deaths of the people of the Titanic. “Titanic “made me feel like I lost someone in the horrific crash. The poem was short and straight to the point.…

    • 221 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Formal-Operational Stage

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To begin, the poem "Titanic" by David R. Slavitt has five stanzas. The first one starts off with the sentence "Who does not love the Titanic?". Which of course gives us the appression that the "Titanic" was a well known and loved ship. "If they sold passage tomorrow for that same crossing, who would not buy?" This statement is very true, who wouldn't want to be aboard the fastest, biggest and unsinkable ship. The answer is: everybody. "To go down….We all go down, mostly alone." "….with crowds of people, friends, servants, well fed, with music,….Ah!" Also, anyone would know these lines represent the strike of tragedy. This is when everything went happened and unfortunately lives were taken. "And the world, shocked mourns…." With loved ones gone, the world is in a state of shock and wonders what is the cause of the sinking. And the end "We all go: only a few, first class. The meaning of this sentence is that people died but only a few were first class because they were the majority put on the life boats.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A magnificent ship heading to the New World discovered its final resting place when ice and metal collide. In “The Convergence of the Twain” and “Titanic”, the poems visualize the Titanic meeting its resting place by the impact with the iceberg. In “The Convergence of the Twain”, Thomas Hardy writes his poem by romanticizing the events of the Titanic. He shows that the events of the Titanic was by fate, and no one could see it coming. On the other hand, “Titanic” reveals that the events of the Titanic has been romanticized, but, in reality, the sinking of the Titanic should be mourned for. The poems use tone, theme, and organization to challenge the view of the Legend of the Titanic.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Modernist period, a period which most literary critics agree began in the late nineteenth century, was characterized by a total break from past forms and a constant search for new ideas. It was through this search that surrealism began to emerge, and many authors began to write about the alienation that mankind faced from both one another and nature, due to the rise of modern technology (Monroe and Moennig). Although many authors captured the essence of Modernist literature, only two particularly seminal texts can be examined in the work below. To this extent, this essay aims to examine and contrast the views of modernity, as presented in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Thomas Hardy’s The Convergence of the Twain.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the world of seafaring men, William Shakespeare may not be particularly celebrated. It can't, however, be said that he didn't try his hand at a dirge for such sailors in his poem, "Full Fathom Five." In this poem, the use of concrete images and onomatopoeia brings to life the poem, bringing the reader closer to the bottom of the sea where the poem is set.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays