When we imagine ourselves alone out at sea we're bound to sense some feelings of loneliness and isolation. After all, we live on land and most of our creative endeavors occur on land too, but the sea in "The Convergence of the Twain" is just as important in understanding our truer selves. In fact, in Hardy's poem the sea may be more important in pointing out some of our bad habits when it comes to pride and vanity. How many times do we say, "I need that new phone," even though our old one is working just fine? Blame it on that good ol' habit of vanity that demands new and pretty things no matter how unnecessary they may be. But those things are totally useless in the solitude of the sea since they can't provide any real warmth or consolation. So as tough as isolation might feel in the poem, it's also a good way to give some of our values a bit of a reality check.
Questions About Isolation
- What's so important about that opening line that includes the "solitude of the sea"? Why is the sea such a lonely place?
- Does the speaker's emphasis on depth ("deep from human vanity") add anything to the theme of isolation? Would we feel any less isolated if we were in shallow waters?
- How does the imagery of such a big sunken luxurious ship add to the poem's feeling of isolation? Is there a deeper metaphorical meaning there?
- Does the imagery of the iceberg add anything to the poem's theme of isolation? What comes to mind when you imagine a gigantic shape of ice, most of which we can't see?
Chew on This
The majority of an iceberg is concealed under water (that's right—look it up), which makes us feel that isolation can be a mysterious emotion that slowly reveals itself to us in the poem.
Loneliness may be painful in Hardy's poem but it also provides a tough life lesson when it comes to the sorts of things we should be valuing over mirrors and jewels and gold-plated toasters.