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Thomas Hardy’s The Convergence of the Twain describes the Titanic and the iceberg that struck it. To describe these two objects, he uses several literary devices. The two main literary devices he uses are imagery and allusion. Imagery and word choice are used to express the ship before and after the disaster while allusion is used to describe how the meeting of the iceberg and the Titanic was fated. Hardy uses imagery, word choice, and allusion to convey his feelings about the convergence.
He feels that the Titanic and iceberg meeting were meant to be as if by some grand design or fate.
In stanza one through stanza five Hardy uses before and after organization, which is a key tool to understanding exactly how the Titanic looked before and after the disaster. Inside of this organization lies the imagery used to convey the decay of the ship. The ship used to be a beautiful wonder; however, after the disaster, the ship is now home to many sea creatures like sea worms.
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The reality of the wrecked Titanic being home to creatures like sea worms suggests that the ship is not what it used to be. The sea worms are also described as indifferent. This indifference to the sunken ship suggests that the worms only see the Titanic as a home and not a tragedy that should never be forgotten.
The imagery Hardy is using in stanzas one through five is accompanied by euphony and cacophony. Euphony is when the word choice of the author sounds pleasing to the ear; however, cacophony is when the choice of words by the author is not pleasing to the ear.
Euphony is used to describe how the ship was before the disaster. This is clear by the word choice present in stanza four. The words used are jewels, joy, and sensuous. All of these words are positive sounding. Cacophony is present in stanza four as well. The words used are as follows: bleared, black, and blind. All of which sound unpleasing to the ear.
After stanza five, the poem shifts from before and after organization to order of events organization. In stanzas five and six Hardy is describing the building of the ship and the formation of the iceberg. Hardy describes the iceberg as being a mate created just for the Titanic in stanza seven. This description suggests that the two, the iceberg and the Titanic, were meant to be together.
As opposite as the iceberg and the Titanic were, the two were meant to converge even though no one could foretell what could happen. The iceberg and the Titanic are described as moving toward each other at the same time. This description leads to the final stanza where the Titanic and the iceberg were created and brought together by the “Spinner of the Years.” The “Spinner of the Years” is an allusion to the fates of Greek myth. In Greek myth, the fates are responsible for spinning the string of life. There are three fates. The first fate represents the beginning of life, the second fate represents the middle of life, and the third fate represents the end of life. Hardy uses this allusion to the Greek myth to convey that the convergence of the iceberg and the Titanic was caused by fate. This shows that the greater design of fate was the reason the iceberg and the Titanic crossed paths. Because the iceberg and the Titanic’s convergence were so perfect, it is like the two were meant to be one as suggested by the allusion to the Fates of Greek myth.
Hardy uses several literary devices in the poem, The Convergence of the Twain; however, the most prominent of the devices are imagery and allusion. The imagery used at the beginning of the poem conveys the difference between the Titanic on her maiden voyage and how the Titanic exists now. The imagery comes in the form of euphony and cacophony. Hardy uses euphony and cacophony to display the pleasantness and the unpleasantness of the Titanic as it was and is. The other prominent literary device that conveys how Hardy feels about the iceberg and the Titanic meeting is the allusion to the Fates of Greek myth. This allusion conveys that the convergence of the iceberg and the Titanic were meant to be. In conclusion, Hardy uses imagery and allusion to convey his attitude toward convergence. Hardy feels as if the iceberg and the Titanic met as by some great design by fate.
Thomas Hardy’s The Convergence of the Twain. (2022, Aug 21). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-convergence-of-the-twain-essay
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