Thomas Hardy’s poetic response to the 1912 Titanic disaster, “The Convergence of the Twain,” takes a contentious approach to the artistic treatment of a traumatic event—an approach the scholar Emerson Brown believes may warrant doubts of Hardy’s moral character. Brown suggests the poem is composed of “ruthless artistry,” viewing the poem as void of sympathy for the disaster’s “real, suffering” victims. He interprets the poem to be a condemnation of the ship’s gross opulence, which serves to validate the crash as Christian retribution for the pride of the passengers, positing: “so far as the moralistic speaker of ‘The Convergence of the Twain’ is concerned, if the ship had been planned not in the ‘Pride of Life’ … the ‘Immanent Will’ would not have ‘Prepared a sinister mate’ with which to work out its grim retribution and the ‘Spinner of the Years’ would not have said ‘Now.’”
An embellishment upon this Christian theme, Brown also observes what he describes as a “macabre humor” in the poem. This humor underlies the conceit employed by Hardy throughout the poem by which the Titanic and iceberg are made lovers and symbols of Christian marriage—an allusion (according to Brown) to the Gospel of Matthew: “‘For this cause shall a man cleave to his wife … Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.’” Though this metaphor likens the “‘convergence’ of ship and iceberg to the consummation of a wedding,” the reality of the disaster was far graver, and for this incongruity of humor and actual tragedy Brown suggests he holds a responsibility of “speculating about [the poem’s] likely affect [sic] on its original audience.”
This speculation results in an interesting bit of history included by Brown in his essay regarding the release of Hardy’s poem. Though the Ramazani anthology reports “The Convergence of the Twain” was published in 1914, the poem first appeared four weeks after the Titanic disaster in 1912 as part of a “souvenir program” for those grieving the tragedy. The programs were distributed to mourners at a London matinee organized in support of the Titanic Disaster Fund, an action to which Brown poignantly draws attention: “The bereaved could read of the sea-worm crawling over the mirrors that once glassed their loved ones’ opulence, and they could infer that their loved ones drowned as a result of their sinful attachment to the things of this world.”
Removed by time from the urgency of the Titanic disaster, “The Convergence of the Twain” seems today to be a provocative, if not scurrilous, reaction to the sinking of the Titanic, a symbol of contemporary invention and luxury. Emerson Brown’s historicist analysis of the poem’s publication along with his own interpretation of the poem, however, reveal its insouciant and callous treatment of an international tragedy.
Brown, Emerson. Jr. “The Ruthless Artistry of Hardy’s ‘Convergence of the Twain.’” The Sewannee Review 102.2 (1994): 233-244. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Excellent critical post–great writing and quote integration. I love the author’s description of Hardy’s callousness, suggesting that “The bereaved could read of the sea-worm crawling over the mirrors that once glassed their loved ones’ opulence, and they could infer that their loved ones drowned as a result of their sinful attachment to the things of this world.” Ouch. It does seem an indulgent poem given the proximity to the massive disaster it marks. This reminds me of those who, immediately after 9/11, were eager to point out that the attack was a result of aggressive US actions overseas. However true that might be, one must honor and appreciate a certain propriety around such massive loss of life and the mourning period that attends it.
As for formatting, just link the article using the chain button rather than cutting and pasting the URL into the post itself. The URL should never be visible. Also, You can include the bibliographic info in the post itself (posts can be slightly less formal in that way) though I do appreciate that you note the page numbers for quotes.