is constructed before the poem even starts. In the title, ‘Twain’, the archaic word for ‘two’ is used, generating the idea of a pairing, with the most obvious pair being the ship and the iceberg. From the sixth stanza onwards, Hardy’s lexis suggests that the ‘convergence’ of the two forces was predestined, an unavoidable event premeditated by some hidden, uncontrollable force which is indicated in phrases like “The Immanent Will” (VI, 18) and “the Spinner of Years” (XI, 31). Although these phrases are used in his novels to denote the forces that work in human life, in the poem the unspoken force Hardy suggests may be nature; the pairing of human technology and nature can be seen quite clearly in the poem with all the new technologies of humans set against the bigger force of nature. Hardy discusses that whilst the Titanic was being built, nature too “prepared a sinister mate” (VII, 19) and, in the next stanza, Hardy creates a sense of menace in the lines “And as the smart ship grew/In stature, grace and hue/In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too” (VIII, 22 – 24). Whilst critic Chris Baldick claims Hardy’s The Convergence of the Twain “alludes to a philosophical stance” and that it “carefully refrains from moralizing”, fellow critic Donald Davie claims the poem “very markedly censures the vanity and luxury which created and inhabited the staterooms of the ocean liner” therefore suggesting Hardy does moralize. Unspoken expectations of the poem are left unfulfilled. Rather than offering the reader comfort, someone to blame or emotive passenger stories, Hardy leaves the reader with an overwhelming sense of insignificance, depicting man highest technological achievement as easily beaten by nature. Humans will always be subject to nature which is unsympathetic to “human vanity” (I, 2) and “Pride of Life” (I, 3). Related works Simon Armitage also wrote a poem called "The Convergence of the Twain", mimicking Hardy's style, but describing the events of 9/11. In 2012 composer James Burton conducted the world premiere of his new composition The Convergence of the Twain, a setting of the Hardy poem, at the St Endellion Music Festivals in Cornwall, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. References External links Text of "Convergence" from University of Toronto 1915 poems Poetry by Thomas Hardy Works about RMS Titanic