On April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic sank into the icy waters of the North.
Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton en route to New York.
City. It was revered as the largest and most luxurious ship at that time,.
and was dubbed "unsinkable". But shortly before midnight on April 14,.
the Titanic collided with an iceberg, rupturing the hull, and causing it to.
sink at 2:20 A.M. the next morning, taking down with it more than 1500.
men, women and children.
In the poem, The Convergence of the Twain, the author, Thomas.
Hardy, takes a different approach compared to the sympathetic,.
romantic sentiments contained in the movie versions of the sinking. .
Instead he entwines several themes such as fate, marriage, chiaroscuro,.
Divine Will and vanity, into his work.
Hardy interprets the Titanic hitting the iceberg as two soulmates.
finally finding each other- a joyous event of marriage and consummation. .
Indication of this supposition is voiced in the last five stanzas of the poem,.
saying "prepared a sinister mate", "the intimate wedding of their later.
history", and "And consummation comes and jars two hemispheres." In.
this last phrase, Hardy says that the coming together of both the ship and.
the iceberg was inevitable, even at the expense of 1500 lives.
Human vanity and egocentrism also plays a big role in Hardy's.
interpretation. Calling the ship unsinkable, "the Pride of Life", implies that.
the creators and engineers who built the magnificent ship had finally.
achieved a god-like creation. God heard these narcissistic remarks and.
decided to reduce the people back to the petty mortals we are. .
Therefore we the see humbled, somewhat pathetic, Titanic lying some.
4,000 meters below the sea's surface, deep from human vanity, covered.
in grotesque, slimed, dumb and indifferent sea worms. .
Factoring in with this is God and his Divine Will, as well as destiny. He.
shows that fate is inescapable and cannot be played with or altered.
