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David R. Slavitt's The Convergence Of The T

1024 Words5 Pages

The poem “Titanic” by David R. Slavitt criticizes ___ of the Titanic. Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The Convergence of the Twain” discusses the Titanic’s beauty along with the reality of its destruction. In both poems the use of tone, use of irony, and concept of duality challenges the common view of the Titanic’s legend. The Titanic’s legacy has been built into an entertaining tale through books and movies, embellishing the tragedy into something romanticized. Both poets challenge the romantic outlook through tone. In “Titanic,” Slavitt seems to be conveying a beautiful view of the Titanic by speaking of everyone on board, well fed and surrounded by music and lights as they began to sink. However, it is quite apparent that he sees the Titanic as anything but a beautiful …show more content…

He identifies the fact that the world has not mourned the loss as it should, but rather creating stories for the future generation to enjoy that will “give them a good cry,” (Line 10 and GRAMMAR?). Sarcastically, he continues to say that the sinking is “not so bad after all” (11). For these moments in the poem, he speaks as if he is someone who has romanticized the tragedy, simply to show how absurd it is to glamorize such an event. While Slavitt uses sarcasm to object the perspective of the Titanic’s legend, Thomas Hardy uses reverence. Throughout the poem, he acknowledges the beauty of the Titanic, speaking of its “jewels in joy designed to ravish the sensuous mind” (10-11). While admiring the beauty of the ship, Hardy also accounts for the grim reality of the ship’s end with respect rather than with criticism as Slavitt did. As the ship continued its journey through the water, Hardy noted that in the distance the ship’s “sinister mate [...] so gaily great” (19-20) sat

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