A further comment that can be made on the form of structure of “The Convergence of the Twain” is the way that tense is portrayed in the poem, and how this contributes to its effect as well as how it contrasts or identifies with Hardy’s confessional work. The “The Convergence of the Twain” has a clear division between tense, and furthermore, this division is also key to the narration of events and the dynamic aspects of the narrative. Stanzas I-V are written entirely in the present tense, as Hardy describes the current situation of The Titanic- “Steel chambers, late the pyres/Of her salamandrine fires/Cold currents thrid, and turn to tidal lyres”- the ship itself is passive against the metaphor of the music of the “tidal lyre” sweeping over it, and the “cold currents” that employ the neologism of “thrid” to explain the meaning of their power over the once pristine ship. This passive stasis of the poem could highlight Hardy’s indifference to the loss of those who are described as “the opulent”, or the simple fact that the ship is now at the bottom of the ocean, at the mercy of the greater forces that Hardy discusses and references with such vigour in stanzas VI-XI. In stanza VI, the tense changes upon the heavily accentuated caesura of “Well:”, and Hardy proceeds to actively describe the events that contributed to the Titanic’s downfall- “The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything/Prepared a sinister mate”, exemplifies this through the stanza wide enjambment highlighting the unstoppable nature of the “Will”, and the “stirs and urges” adding to dynamism of the poem.
This idea of a clear definition between tense is one that occurs much more sparsely in works of a direct importance to Hardy, as his verse of this type often blurs the boundaries between tense to highlight the distinction, or lack of distinction in his memories and the contrast and confusion between the past and present. Examples of this include lines in “The Voice”, “Saying that now you are not as you were”, and the recounting of a memory through present description in “At Castle Boterel”, “Myself and a girlish form benighted/In dry March weather. We climb the road”, with this contrast in tense highlighting the contrast in feeling in “The Voice”, and the distinction of the memory being so clear in Hardy’s mind in “At Castle Boterel”, whilst also presenting the idea that the past and present are irreconcilable in their difference. This is reaffirmed through other examples, such as the repetition of ideas from one tense in a separate verse and tense, like “But cannot answer the words he lifts me” of the present and “When I could answer he did not say them” of the past, taken from the alternative perspective of a female lover, assumedly his wife, in “The Haunter”. This depth of memory, or lack of it gives Hardy’s personal accounts a more relevant, current and permanent nature, whilst the pure distinction in tense of “The Convergence of the Twain” gives it an isolated, less impacting feel- this notion of apathy and irrelevance towards the grandeur of the public disaster contrasting greatly with the deep contemplation and almost cursed confessions found in Hardy’s self-portraying poetry.
In terms of narrative perspective, “The Convergence of the Twain” is written in a way that implies that the narrator is bordering on the omniscient and the impersonal. This is accentuated by the almost anecdotal quality that the poem takes on in stanza VI, the “Well:” exemplifies this change in tone to a recollection of events, and it is the linguistic devices and the way that they are employed against each other that portray the context of the story, rather than any personal views of the narrator. An example of this is “And as the smart ship grew/In stature, grace and hue/In shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too”- this line lacks in narrative perspective on events, but effectively portrays the motives and ideas behind it, the idea that the two beings were destined to meet. This use of meaning through pure language over any sort of poetic or narrative perspective contrasts with Hardy’s consistent usage of personal pronouns for effect in his confessional lyrics. This can be exemplified by “The Voice”, “Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me” and “Neutral Tones”, “The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing”- these ideas are antithetical in content, but the use of personal pronoun heightens the accentuates the effect. This contributes with the personally driven and affectionate tone of the line from “The Voice”, and equally the maliciously pertinent tone of “Neutral Tones”, something that Hardy achieves in “The Convergence of the Twain” without this personal perspective, either through a lack of identification with the events, or through his own belief that he can best portray his ideas without the use of direct address.
Finally, the imagery and language of “The Convergence of the Twain” allow Hardy to fully explore and portray the grander premises that he feels are relevant to the isolated event, and how the event, in his eyes, should be viewed. Throughout the first five stanzas of the poem, Hardy uses images of antithesis to portray the starkness of contrast between the elitist desires embodied in the Titanic’s building, and the fateful, inauspicious end that befell it. Hardy describes the supposedly unsinkable “steel chambers” as “late the pyres/Of her salamandrine fires”, suggesting that they came from a source of death, juxtaposing the “Pride of Life” in the Titanic with its almost mythological, fiery “salamandrine end”. This opposition is furthered with the idea of “Cold currents thrid, and turn to rhythmic, tidal lyres”, as if the lyrical omnipotence of nature has encompassed man’s hubristic and arrogant “Pride of Life”- this comparison through capitalisation of this “Pride” with the “Immanent Will” and “Spinner of the Years” elevates man’s ambitions to that of the Gods- a God-given privilege that is ironically punished by the Gods themselves. This comparison of elitist desire with parity of insignificance in death and desolation continues through “Jewels in joy designed/To ravish the sensuous mind/Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind”, the almost sexually desirable “ravishing” gems reduced to cold, dark shadow, emphasised by the harsh, monosyllabic sounds of “black” and “blind”. The insignificance of the ship in its “solitude of the sea” is exemplified in the next stanza, with even the common fish commenting on the “vaingloriousness”, Hardy using a neologism to show that man’s desire for greatness, and its subsequent inherent capacity to fail is reduced to mere trivia for one of the most common, stupid creatures of the world.
This use of antithesis, juxtaposition and contrast to highlight contrast in positivity and negativity, particularly in varied tense, is commonly employed by Hardy in his private poems, as well as its vehement usage in the opening part of “The Convergence of the Twain”. Examples of this include the brightness and clarity of memory in “Even to the original air blue gown” against the bitter, indifference and “listlessness” of the breeze in “The Voice”, the opposing images highlighting the contrast of the prior happiness and passion between Hardy and a lover against her debatable existence of the present. Another example is in “At Castle Boterel”, with Hardy using pathetic fallacy to contrast the “Dry March weather” in which he “And a girlish form benighted” against the “unflinching rigour” of Time and the “rain” of the present. This consistent use of opposed imagery to enact effect shows that Hardy remains consistent with his usage of literary techniques, but applies them to a different extent- the gravitas and harsh opposition of the public “The Convergence of the Twain” allow the public to appreciate the visceral nature of the Titanic’s sinking and Hardy’s clinical, impersonal interpretation, whilst the subtle confusion and blending of tense of his more private works heightens the personal depth of Hardy’s thoughts and allows the reader to appreciate his confusion.
Finally, the closing six stanzas of “The Convergence of the Twain” take a wide ranging, anecdotal tone, alongside the introduction of the omnipotent, invincible nature of the natural contrast to the hubristic desires of man previously described. Hardy utilises metaphors to emphasise the enduring opposition between the entities of man and nature, and emphasises this by introducing wider themes of the male and female, and the less wide ranging but equally important antithesis of ship and iceberg. Hardy contrasts the human ambition of the “creature of cleaving wing” against the power of the fated “Immanent Will”, that prepares a “sinister mate”, intertwining the themes of male and female, man and nature, and ship and iceberg. The stanza wide enjambment of “The Immanent Will that stirs and urges everything /Prepared a sinister mate” also emphasises the unstoppable nature of Time, the power of the stanzas aligning the power of the “Higher Forces”. This tone continues with “The intimate welding of their later history”, the oxymoronic nature of “intimate welding”, the non sequitor of intimacy possibly highlighting Hardy’s lack of compassion for events, or simply adding to the underlying theme of eternal verities and their opposition. This continues in the closing stanza of the poem, “Till the Spinner of the Years/Said “Now!” And each one hears,/And consummation comes, and jars two hemispheres”. The personification of “the Spinner of the Years” adds to its power, and the simplicity of “consummation” and the ambiguity of “two hemispheres” suggest that Hardy is removing all horror and myth from the event- to him it is a collision of enduring forces, and nothing more.
This idea of the power of Time is consistent to many of Hardy’s poems, but its simplicity in the public eye is very different to the confusion and personal angst that it causes Hardy in many of his confessional works of verse. Time is to Hardy’s detriment through the entirety of “The Voice”, as it reduces his intimate lyric for his wife, “Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me” to the ambiguous, almost spiteful staccato punch of “The woman, calling.” This personal angst is very different to the simple omnipotence that Hardy exhibits in “The Convergence of the Twain”, and the specific power is better revealed in “At Castle Boterel”. Described as “Time’s unflinching rigour” and “mindless rote”, it has the power to reduce “Dry March weather” to “drizzle”, that “bedrenches the wagonette”, and reduce “A time of such quality” to a mere “phantom figure”, contrasting the events to the extent that it gives them an air of irreconcilability, similar to the opposition of “the creature of cleaving wing” and “sinister mate” of “The Convergence of the Twain”. Finally, irrelevance of man in the eyes of Time, and the idea of circumstance being more powerful than any emotion or action that humans can muster, is featured extensively in “The Convergence of the Twain”, “The Spinner of the Years said “Now!! And each one hears/And consummation comes”, and also in Hardy’s personal works. Examples of this include “I look behind on the fading byway”, as Time causes the clarity of the memory to gradually dissipate. This can be interpreted in many ways, with the possibility of the happy memories fading, or the present fading against the stark, important past. The fact that this interpretation is multi-faceted furthers the idea of Time’s power, and the inability of humans, with either personal thought or the building of an elitist vessel, to prevent it from crushing everything in its path.
In conclusion, Hardy’s responds to the challenge of writing a public piece, as opposed to his deeply confessional private verse, with a skilful blend of the literary techniques that go into any piece of verse. However, the levels of sophistication and subtly are adroitly varied to present the contrast between the impersonal, stark reality of “The Convergence of the Twain”, and the emotional confusion, angst and torment that similar themes and ideas cause him in his confessional verse- in effect, Hardy simply uses the opposites of consistency and variation together, as with the opposition that features in both audiences of his verse.
