"In a solitude of the sea deep from human vanity." -"Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy
Although this poem was fairly straightforward in regards to meaning and style, I found some notable nuances. First was the tone. Hardy takes a very sarcastic approach when speaking of the famed ship. He speaks of its "vaingloriousness" and refers to it as the "smart ship." The sarcasm is also supplemented by the other factors in the poem. He talks about how the "Iceberg grew too." The second method I noticed was Hardy's seemingly deliberate separation of the physical levels of the situation of which he is describing serve to continuate this sarcasm. However, the levels are not in order of importance. He talks about the indifferent sea creatures after he talks of the shiny and pretentious ship. The ship is normally on a level greater than that of the sea creatures but in this case is brought down to their same level. Then, on a pedestal higher than all entities is the "Spinner of the Years" who determines the fate of all levels, as evidenced by the decline of an esteemed level into indifference.
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