The Convergence of the Twain

"The Convergence of the Twain"
Thomas Hardy
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"The Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy seemed to offer to conflicting ideas to the reader: one is the contrasting of human vanity and the brute force of nature and the other is the inevitable matrimony of the two. Throughout the poem, the "jewels in joy designed," the "gilded gear," and the "opulent" nature of the Titanic create the image of human vanity (Hardy, 778). This quality is personified by the ship, and the fated meeting of the ship and the iceberg creates a feeling that the speaker looks down upon vanity; it is almost as if the quality of vanity can lead to no end other than ruin. This is where the idea of the "star-crossed lovers" comes into play. The diction towards the end of the poem creates a tone of a fated love with the use of marital, almost sexual, word choice. For example, "mate," "intimate welding," and "consummation" all add to this technique used by the speaker to describe the relationship between the ship and its downfall (Hardy, 778). This marital diction seems to be slightly ironic; it is unusual that words used to typically describe lovers would be used to describe such a tragic event. However, it does seem to reinforce the tragic Shakespearean idea of "star crossed lovers" by which two fated hearts fulfill their destiny only to discover that it is also their downfall.