Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Convergence of the Twain” highlights the relationship between mankind’s arrogance and the demise of the Titanic. Hardy opens with the lines “deep from human vanity/ and the Pride of Life that planned her, stilly couches she”. He does so with the intent to show readers that the mighty Titanic, touted by many as a ship that “not even God Himself could sink”, now lies deathly silent at the bottom of the ocean where human vanity no longer matters. Through this fatal connection, an ominous tone emerges in Hardy’s poem. This tone is heavily stressed when the speaker states that the ship’s impending destruction is destined to happen. As the Titanic is assembled, the Imminent Will, a force that governs the universe, “prepared a sinister mate”. This sinister mate is revealed to be the iceberg that will eventually lead to the ship’s downfall. From the ship’s very construction, it is already destined to collide with the iceberg, its ultimate fate. As the ship continued to grow in “stature, grace, and hue”, so too did the Iceberg. Throughout this poem, the speaker uses an abundance of poetic devices such as alliteration, antithesis, and imagery to support the connection between the Titanic and it’s impending fate. The third and fourth …show more content…
This consistency in rhyme scheme and structure supports the doomed fate of the Titanic. The fate of the vessel cannot be changed or avoided so Hardy selects a structure for his poem and adheres to it throughout the entirety of his piece. He formats this poem by first describing the Titanic’s current condition under the sea and then moves back in time to the crucial moments when the Titanic and Iceberg paths collided. By ending his poem with the commencement “Now” by the “Spinner of Years”, Hardy is able to heighten the image of the Titanic and Iceberg being bound together by
The opening lines of Janie’s story consist of, “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizons…” These words suggest the necessity in life to endeavo...
The juxtaposition of the Titanic and the environment in the first five stanzas symbolizes the opposition between man and nature, suggesting that nature overcomes man. The speaker characterizes the sea as being “deep from human vanity” (2) and deep from the “Pride of Life that planned” the Titanic. The diction of “human vanity” (2) suggests that the sea is incorruptible by men and then the speaker’s juxtaposition of vanity with “the
"She struck where the white and fleecy waves Looked soft as carded wool, But the cruel rocks, they gored her side Like the horns of an angry bull. Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice, with the masts went by the board; Like a vessel of glass, She stove and sank, Ho! Ho! the breakers roared!" The ballad "Wreck of the Hesperus" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow explains how uncivil acts can dramatically change anything. This story describes a prideful man who made a selfish decision to not listen to a sailor's gesticulation and go out to sea during a ineluctable hurricane off Herman's Woe. The skipper takes his daughter with him and because of his bad decision they both died when their ship "The Hesperus" crashes into the rocks and sinks. In "Wreck of the Hesperus" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow suggests that pride, betrayal and selfishness can change the outcome of things in ways people don't expect.
Rich, Adrienne. “Diving into the Wreck” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. 11th ed. New York: Norton, 2013.1010-1012. Print.
Mississippi Twain tells us of a man with a dream. As imperfection has it this
In the poem “Wreck of the Hesperus”, the author, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, uses several examples of personification, simile, and irony to convey the message that people’s overconfidence uncontrollably leads to their downfall, and the destruction of pure objects in their life that the person loves.
...ing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1998-2000. Comp. Clifton. Rochester: BOA Editions, 2000. 20. Print.
The proverbial calm before the storm is vividly, yet tragically depicted when “…no ripples curl, alas!”(36), “No swellings tell of winds may be/[…] on seas less hideously serene.”(38-40). “But lo, a stir is in the air!/ The wavethere is a movement there!”(42-43). The storm has hit! The repeated use of exclamation marks in an otherwise relatively “serenely” punctuated poem gives an even more dramatic effect to the storm, strengthening the idea of peril.
Are personal opinions made up from your own personal thoughts or are they developed from what others think or feel? The essay Corn-pone Opinions by Mark Twain, shows how corn-pone or every day opinions are formed. It was written in 1901, but was not published until after his death in 1923, in Europe and Elsewhere. The author’s main argument is that opinions are developed from conformity with what their family, neighbors, and society around them thinks. In general, people have a need for self-approval.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by the pseudonym Mark Twain, has been central to American literature for over a century. His seemingly effortless diction accurately exemplified America’s southern culture. From his early experiences in journalism to his most famous fictional works, Twain has remained relevant to American writing as well as pop culture. His iconic works are timeless and have given inspiration the youth of America for decades. He distanced himself from formal writing and became one of the most celebrated humorists. Mark Twain’s use of the common vernacular set him apart from authors of his era giving his readers a sense of familiarity and emotional connection to his characters and himself.
The human voyage into life is basically feeble, vulnerable, uncontrollable. Since the crew on a dangerous sea without hope are depicted as "the babes of the sea", it can be inferred that we are likely to be ignorant strangers in the universe. In addition to the danger we face, we have to also overcome the new challenges of the waves in the daily life. These waves are "most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall", requiring "a new leap, and a leap." Therefore, the incessant troubles arising from human conditions often bring about unpredictable crises as "shipwrecks are apropos of nothing." The tiny "open boat", which characters desperately cling to, signifies the weak, helpless, and vulnerable conditions of human life since it is deprived of other protection due to the shipwreck. The "open boat" also accentuates the "open suggestion of hopelessness" amid the wild waves of life. The crew of the boat perceive their precarious fate as "preposterous" and "absurd" so much so that they can feel the "tragic" aspect and "coldness of the water." At this point, the question of why they are forced to be "dragged away" and to "nibble the sacred cheese of life" raises a meaningful issue over life itself. This pessimistic view of life reflects the helpless human condition as well as the limitation of human life.
The story’s theme is related to the reader by the use of color imagery, cynicism, human brotherhood, and the terrible beauty and savagery of nature. The symbols used to impart this theme to the reader and range from the obvious to the subtle. The obvious symbols include the time from the sinking to arrival on shore as a voyage of self-discovery, the four survivors in the dinghy as a microcosm of society, the shark as nature’s random destroyer of life, the sky personified as mysterious and unfathomable and the sea as mundane and easily comprehended by humans. The more subtle symbols include the cigars as representative of the crew and survivors, the oiler as the required sacrifice to nature’s indifference, and the dying legionnaire as an example of how to face death for the correspondent.
First of all, the poem is very exquisite and dramatic. It appeared imaginable as like I see the blood on the deck, a man crying. Also, from first to last part, speaker’s voice had changed; he hold his captain’s head with deep grief, and eventually he walked weekly through on the deck. The situation of the poem is that a ship is reached to the port. And the people on the ship were exulting
Symbolism was used to express the Captains minds set. In the beginning paragraphs, the Captain is viewed as depressed, apprehensive, and insecure. The Captain viewed the land as insecure, whereas the sea was stable. The Captain was secure with the sea, and wished he were more like it.
In the poem “A song of Despair” Pablo Neruda chronicles the reminiscence of a love between two characters, with the perspective of the speaker being shown in which the changes in their relationship from once fruitful to a now broken and finished past was shown. From this Neruda attempts to showcase the significance of contrasting imagery to demonstrate the Speaker’s various emotions felt throughout experience. This contrasting imagery specifically develops the reader’s understanding of abandonment, sadness, change, and memory. The significant features Neruda uses to accomplish this include: similes, nautical imagery, floral imagery, and apostrophe.