Works of Thomas Hardy discussion
Poetry
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The Convergence of the Twain
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The Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. It was on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. There were 2,200 people on board, 1,500 of them died. It was considered the technological miracle of its day. It was going to usher in a new era of luxury travel between Europe and America.
This poem was first printed in a program intended to raise funds for the victims, the “Dramatic and Operatic Matinée in Aid of the ‘Titanic’ Disaster Fund," which was held in London at the Royal Opera House on May 14, 1912, one month after the ship sank.
However, Thomas Hardy wrote “The Convergence of the Twain” on April 24, 1912 – only nine days after the ship went down. Interestingly, he knew two people who perished on the ship and yet there is very little mention of human loss in his poem.
And I love that about this poem. Instead of an elegy to the dead, Hardy has given us a meditation on Man vs. Nature. I also like how this poem reminds me of Hardy’s novels as it grapples with the ever present “hand of fate” or as the speaker of the poem says “The Immanent Will”.
I could go on with more thoughts, but I’m very curious what you all think of this…..
Mod
Thanks, Bridget. I love all the literal and symbolic imagery in this one—there is much to ponder. The last verse is almost biblical. My initial (ecological) interpretation:Man will never conquer nature. In the great scheme of things, our reign here is merely a Titanic voyage. Just look at where we are now with all our ingeniousness. It's precisely when we think we are in conquer mode, placing ourselves apart and superior to nature, that courses are set towards destruction. I believe we will conquer ourselves into oblivion.
This poem is very dear to me as I taught it to A level students a few years ago. We found it very difficult because of Hardy’s choice to use elevated diction, words such as ‘thrid’ and ‘salamandrine’ for students scuttling to the dictionary. I also found it fascinating that Hardy chose to focus on the pride of man to create opulence and luxury that just ended up on the bottom of the ocean rather than focus on the tragic loss of life. There’s a strong warning running throughout this poem that we cannot outwit nature and shouldn’t get above our station. I actually love the righteousness in this poem and the way it is so meticulously structured into 11 verses each of whose shape reflects the mass of the Titanic the funnel rising above. What is so curious about this poem is the second half with the creation of the iceberg alongside the ship, that they were fated to collide from the moment of creation and most sinister is the fact that there is a higher being who chooses the moment of impact. That ‘now’ is so chilling.
And as the smart ship grewIn stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.
There is such an ominous feeling in this poem that the Immanent Will will threaten us if humans try to outsmart Nature. There was so much publicity, and money thrown around when the Titanic was built. Meanwhile, Nature formed an iceberg out of something as simple as water. It seems like the paths of the two are destined by fate to converge.
Natalie, thanks for pointing out that the shape of each stanza looks like a ship. It gives the feeling that the ship is traveling and traveling, then the ship disappears on the last line.Edit: On rereading the poem, I was just noticing that an iceberg also has the same shape with the large part of the iceberg hidden under the ocean.
Most of the stanzas are composed of one sentence that combine elements of the sea and the ship.
Mod
Jean, I love your word "mellifluous". Thats a great way to describe the "feel" of the poem. I wonder if the triplet rhyme scheme "AAA" has anything to do with that feeling? Rhyming couplets, I think, would have been too "singsong" and not felt somber enough. The triplets must have been a deliberate chose by Hardy.
Maybe he chose the tercet form, with rhyming triplets so that he could create the silhouette of the ship, as Natalie suggested, or as Connie points out it could be the shape of an iceberg as well. I never saw either of those aspects in the poem until you both mentioned them. I think that's just brilliant!
Mod
That is very well said Jane! The hubris of man thinking he can conquer nature is central to so many of Hardy's works. Perhaps it's not surprising he wrote this poem in only nine days. The sinking of the Titanic was a shock, deeply felt by people across the world. I wonder if, for Hardy, here was an event that confirmed all the themes he had been wrestling with for years: fate, destiny, man vs. nature. Perhaps the poem flowed easily from his pen. I suppose we will never know for sure, but it's easy for me to imagine he felt that way.
I also agree with your observation about the last stanza being biblical. "The Spinner of Years" being an omnipotent, godlike entity who says the powerful word "Now!" and creates the moment when the ship and ice collide. As Natalie said, it's "chilling". I also like how that last stanza takes us to that moment of impact, and then the poem ends.
Mod
How wonderful that you taught this poem to your students. I must confess, I also ran straight for my dictionary to look up "thrid" and "salamandrine". I'm also rather found of "vaingloriousness" and "Immanent Will"
I'm so glad you pointed out the turn in the second half of the poem, because I think that's key. Just like the one, chilling word "now" at the end of the poem, the sixth stanza starts with that one word and colon "Well:" - as if the speaker is saying, it's all very "well" these things man has created, but now I'm going to tell you what's actually important in the world. At least that's how it reads to me.
Mod
Connie, I like that quote you used, and the idea of the ship and iceberg being fated for each other. I see that as well in stanza 7 where the iceberg is created as a "sinister mate" for the ship. Or, in the last line of the poem their "consummation" is like a terrible marriage. That idea of a union is of course echoed in the title "convergence of the twain". None of this is a happy union. It's just an inevitable one.
Mod
Just reading the title, I got the impression it would be about two people meeting.It turns out that the meaning of the title and the poem is deeper and stronger.
Rosemarie wrote: "Just reading the title, I got the impression it would be about two people meeting. It turns out that the meaning of the title and the poem is deeper and stronger."An ill-fated union, indeed. And as Hardy continues on the theme of convergence, the poem becomes increasingly ominous. Hardy uses words suggestive of a romantic, or even sexual, coupling. The Immanent Will had prepared a sinister mate for the smart ship. This culminates in an intimate welding of twin halves—the jarring consummation of two hemispheres. Very powerful imagery.
This is such a beautiful poem, and as Jean says, I think it's the most lyrical that I've encountered here in the group. The craft is extraordinary, and I had no confusions as I have had with some of his other poems where I had to re-read a few times to untangle phrases or where I experienced some disorientation or confusion because there were a few different ways that lines and phrases could be put together depending on how it was read. This one flows beautifully to a single point of collision without a single moment of awkwardness.
As all of you have said, what struck me first is how strongly the event is fated. It is as though the iceberg and the ship were made for each other, two halves of a whole. I agree with you Jane; that imagery is so powerful. Normally, I think of people conjoined by fate in this way, but here, it is objects.
And the Immanent Will is so sinister, indeed! It gives me shivers, almost like the Greek and Roman gods in this way, where human beings are toys to their will.
But overall, what strikes me most is how lovely the imagery is. I love for instance the threading ("thrid") of the cold currents through the shipwreck that make it sing like a lyre. It combines everything doesn't it - the sense of touch in the coldness, the sense of vision in the threading, the sense of hearing in the sound produced. So arresting!
I actually think this is a new favorite of mine in Hardy's work, just on craft and imagery alone! Thanks for posting it Bridget!
Mod
The craft is extraordinary, and I had no confusions as I have had with some..."
You are welcome Greg, I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you everyone for joining in the discussion. I learned so much from all of you!
Thanks, Bridget. I enjoyed the poem and everyone's comments in the discussion.
I'm a fairly poetically illiterate reader but I really enjoyed this poem for several reasons:1) The Format - Bridget identifies it as "tercet form, with rhyming triplets." The format not only made the poem ship-shaped but gave the poem a pleasant and fairly unique floe, I smile every time I look at the poem and its shape;
2) The Wording - both the "mellifluous" wording and "elevated diction" gave the poem both a majestic and ominous feel, aiding in the impact of Hardy's theme and message. I may have had an advantage over Natalie's students since, by reading the poem on Goodreads, my text and dictionary are kind of in the same book, making for easy access. The dictionary was probably even more of a help when reading the posts, such as with "tercet."
3) The Theme and Message - I do enjoy the theme, as others identified, of "Man vs. Nature" along with Hardy's message of "Man will never conquer nature." Hardy may have been at peak form here because, as others cited, he was working with nature and fate, themes right up his alley.
4) The Prior Insight - I glanced at the poem, then read the posts and only then did I thoroughly read the poem. The insights I obtained by reading the posts greatly enhanced my ability to grasp Hardy's intent and find pleasure in the poem.
(Lines on the Loss of the Titanic)
I
In a solitude of the sea
Deep from human vanity,
And the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she.
II
Steel chambers, late the pyres
Of her salamandrine fires,
Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic tidal lyres.
III
Over the mirrors meant
To glass the opulent
The sea-worm crawls—grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent.
IV
Jewels in joy designed
To ravish the sensuous mind
Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind.
V
Dim moon-eyed fishes near
Gaze at the gilded gear
And query: "What does this vaingloriousness down here?" ...
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.
VIII
And as the smart ship grew
In stature, grace, and hue,
In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too.
IX
Alien they seemed to be:
No mortal eye could see
The intimate welding of their later history.
X
Or sign that they were bent
By paths coincident
On being anon twin halves of one august event,
XI
Till the Spinner of the Years
Said "Now!" And each one hears,
And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres