The Convergence of the Twain: Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1912

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Convergence of the Twain” is a 33-line lyric poem divided into 11 three-line stanzas called tercets. The rhyme scheme is AAABBB, while the meter varies between an iambic pentameter (five sets of stressed-unstressed syllables) for the first two lines of each stanza, with an iambic hexameter (six sets of stressed-unstressed syllables) for the last. The rhythmic beat of the end rhymes mimics the ship cleaving through the water, while the lengthening of beats in the last line of the stanzas helps increase the solemn tone of the poem.

Christopher Childers has noted that “[t]he stanza/s looks remarkably like a boat, lying long and low in the water, with the Roman numerals sitting on top like smokestacks” (Childers, Christopher. “‘Convergence of the Twain’: Horace, Hardy, and the Jar of Influence.” Medium, 2015), depending on how the poem is printed.

The poem is organized into two parts. The first five stanzas describe the shipwreck and end with fish wondering how the ship came to be in their domain. The second part retells the story of the collision as an analogy—the doomed violent meeting of the female-coded ship and the male-coded iceberg. Starting with “Well” (Line 16), the speaker describes the disaster as predestined by the otherworldly forces like “Immanent Will” (Line 18) to temper Gilded Age “vaingloriousness” (Line 15).

Achronology

The poem does not relate the disaster in the sequence in which it happened. Instead, Stanzas 1-5 describe the shipwreck’s aftermath, while Stanzas 6-11 circle back to recap the crash into the iceberg. The poem begins with a portrayal of the ship on the ocean floor; the imagery is vivid (and would later be proven surprisingly accurate). This gives readers an understanding of the extraordinary waste that has occurred. Approximately 100,000 people were at the ship’s launch, and many probably dreamed of taking the ship. But the first part of the poem assures us all enviable things about the Titanic are gone, checking desire and exacerbating the doomed tone of the second half. Fate has ordained the disaster, orchestrating the fatal meeting between ship and iceberg—a meeting all the more cataclysmic because we have seen its result. While the poem ends with the collision, the reader’s mind still sees the consequence of that “consummation” (Line 33)—almost as though we came across a crime scene and only pieced together what happened afterward. In other words, we see the body first and experience the horror after.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a poetic technique, in which close words begin with the same sound, usually to create an emotional effect. This occurs in such lines as “as the smart ship grew / In stature, grace, and hue, / In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too” (Lines 22-24), where the repetition of the beginning “s” sounds helps to suggest the sinister and sneaky aspect of the iceberg.

Earlier in the poem, but later in chronology, we see repetitions of “j,” “l,” and “b” in the description, “Jewels in joy designed / to ravish the sensuous mind / Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind” (Lines 10-12). This creates the effect of the ocean around the Titanic. The “j” of “[j]ewels in joy” isolates these formerly luxurious decorative items, cutting them off from the ship’s new environment, while the “l” sounds of “lie lightless” connect the extinguished radiance to the “tidal lyres” (Line 6) that surround the ship with nautical music rather than luminosity. This is enhanced further by the repetition of “b” in “bleared and black and blind” (Line 12), which creates a bubbling effect of water when something sinks through it. The use of such sound enlivens the poem, making it memorable and vivid.