"The Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy: Tone

          In Thomas Hardy's poem "The Convergence of the Twain," Hardy's tone unfolds throughout the poem.  In his poem about the sinking of the Titanic, he has a tone of indifference towards the victims of the ship wreck.  Throughout his writing he describes how all of the glamour of the ship no longer matters.  He depicts this through the image of indifferent "sea worms" and gazing "moon-eyed fishes," (Hardy, 778).  This creates a tone of indifference of the  speaker towards the tragedy that killed many.  This also brings some irony into the poem.  The people were very wrapped up in the glamour and beauty of the ship.  The speaker implies that the people should have been concerned with the safety of the ship.  The speaker presents this in an ironic manner.  The people were very wrapped up in the "stuff" on the ship and in the end it did not matter because the "stuff" they needed to save them was missing.