AlyssaWS

="Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy=

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.

TPCASTT

Title- //The Convergence of the Twain// suggests that two things will be coming together in the poem. Convergence also suggests that two things become one, or very close. The cold ocean surrounds the ship’s steal chambers and engine fires. Through glass, sea creatures crawl, not sensing any danger. Jewels that were designed to bring joy to the owners of them have lost that sense of joy, and no longer sparkle. The inevitable was beginning to approach. The ice berg that was to doom them was coming nearer. To the oblivious passengers, it seemed far and unimportant to them. As the Titanic sailed on, believing it was the greatest and most indestructible ship ever built; the iceberg was becoming more and more threatening. The passengers did not expect their history to be as it was. It was just a coincidence, one august night. But as the iceberg and the Titanic hit, they became one, and the lives of the vain passengers, converged with the ocean. http://voicethread.com/share/971485/
 * Paraphrase-** In the empty ocean, with no care for humanity vanity or the promises told about the Titanic, danger approaches.
 * Connotation-** The rhyme scheme for this poem is “AAA, BBB, CCC etc…” The poem has lots of imagery. It begins by describing the “solitude of the sea,” in line 1, creating a helpless tone for the poem. This establishes the ominous nature or rather, the ominousness of the sea. There is contrasting imagery in lines 5 and 6 describing the “salamandrine fires” of the Titanic and the “cold currents” of the ocean. This symbolizes that the ocean and the ship will clash. By using the word “jars” in the last line, it symbolizes a closing of the situation, meaning the ship has sunk and will never be revived.
 * Attitude-** The authors’ attitude is menacing but also mocking. This mocking attitude is established in lines 2 and 3 by saying that “deep from human vanity… stilly couches them.” He is expressing the irony that the riches won’t protect the people from a sinking ship. The mocking is also displayed when the speaker says “the smart ship grew in stature, grace, and hue, in shadowy silent distance grew the iceberg too.” No matter how indestructible the ship believes it is, it will not withstand the impact of the iceberg.
 * Shifts-** From stanza one to stanza two, the speaker shifts from a description of the entire ocean, to the ocean water specifically surrounding the ship, for a more personal feel in the poem. From stanza six to stanza seven, the description of the iceberg shifts from being distant and unimportant, to being a serious threat to the ship. In stanza ten, the sinking of the ship has not yet happening; in stanza eleven, is sinking and lives are destroyed.
 * Title-** The title is describing the convergence of the Titanic, and the iceberg that sinks it. These are the “twain,” the ship and the iceberg.
 * Theme-** The poem is describing the irony and unexpectedness of the sinking of the Titanic. The theme is that no matter where you stand in the world, everyone is equally vulnerable to devastation.