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Thomas HardyThe Convergence of the Twain: Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1912A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: Hardy’s Naturalist Realism
Hardy’s later novels—the ones now considered his greatest work—were part of a mid-to-late 19th-century genre known as Naturalism, a movement that believed that Realist fiction should portray the darker elements of life without obfuscation or euphemism. Hardy’s Naturalist works were bleak in tone, questioning Victorian sexual morality, criticizing the unjustness of the upper class, and doubting the benevolence of God. This pessimism honesty scandalized Victorian sensibilities, making these latter novels deeply unpopular on publication.
Scholars believe Hardy turned to poetry in the 1890s because of the growing negative reception of his fiction. However, while his poems also tackled themes of regret and pain, the irrevocable passage of time, and the fragility of humanity, they were positively received and widely liked. These themes are present in “The Convergence of the Twain” (1914), his commemorative poem on the sinking of the Titanic.
Hardy’s take on Realism, and resistance to sentimentally, drew many younger writers to emulate him, especially as they faced horrors of their own, including World War I. Hardy’s skill as a poet was lauded by such writers as William Butler Yeats, Virginia Woolf, Siegfried Sassoon, Ezra Pound, D. H. Lawrence, Rupert Brooke, and Robert Frost. His ability to blend natural imagery and questions of fate with personal narrative has also influenced several contemporary poets.
Economic Context: Wealth and Class on the Titanic
When the Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, for New York City on April 10, 1912, it was the largest ship ever built and celebrated as one of the finest: “Shipbuilder magazine, in a special issue devoted to the Olympic liners, [deemed] them ‘practically unsinkable.’” (“‘Unsinkable’ Titanic’s Fatal Flaws.” History, 2024).
Harland and Wolff Shipbuilding for the White Star Line spared no expense in designing or constructing the ship, which was outfitted with the latest technologies. The first-class amenities were decorated with the most opulent accouterments, including fine woodwork, chandeliers, and gilt edging. Besides extravagant staterooms, Titanic’s upper-class passengers had access to restaurants where they were served multi-course dinners, cafés, a gym, Turkish baths, a swimming pool, squash courts, and two libraries. The first part of Hardy’s poem consigns this opulence to the icy depths of the Atlantic.
The cost for first-class passage, according to David Mendelsohn’s research, was one “hundred and fifty dollars for a one-way fare at a time when the average annual household income in the U.S. was eight hundred dollars” (Mendelsohn, David. “Unsinkable.” The New Yorker, 2012). Passengers who could afford these tickets included wealthy industrialists, celebrities, political figures, and socialites. Of the 2,240 people aboard the ship, only around 325 were first-class passengers; the rest were the crew, the second class, and the third class, or steerage. However, although nearly 70% of the ship’s passengers died, the majority of the 705 people rescued were those with first-class tickets.
After the wreck, many thought the name Titanic had heralded the ship’s doom, since in Greek mythology the Titans were warring giants defeated by the gods due to their hubris. Hardy plays with the idea of hubris and fate in his famous poem.
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By Thomas Hardy
