The Convergence Of Twain V. Ozymandias

"The Convergence of Twain" and "Ozymandias" are two poems which consist of parallel tones with differing illustrations. The authors use irony to describe the vast pride expressed in both poems. Percy Shelley demonstrates excessive pride with using a King who desired to become immortal in "Ozymandias"; Thomas Hardy describes that same pride with the common people who thought of the Titanic as indestructible. Shelley makes a mockery of the King and has shown little sympathy in his poem. Thomas Hardy seems more sympathetic towards the pride of others.

King Ozymandias' pride and ego personified in the statue was reduced to nothing but particles of sand, further ridiculing his success and the kingdom he had built. The traveler introduced in the first line tells the foreigners of the monument which does not heighten the king's accomplishments, but instead he communicates the irony of the words inscribed on the statue represent the creation of a respectful structure to sheer mockery. The poem as a whole is a declaration on the failing of being a tyrannical ruler. "The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed," represents the sculptor who created the statue that is skeptic of the king as a leader and as a god. Yet the sculptor desired to believe in a potent god who would possibly become "King of Kings." The inscription that proclaims "Look upon my works" depicts more irony since all that remains of Ozymandias' kingdom is monument made of him, but not made by him. The sand within the poem represents the scrape of time in which the king's accomplishments have been forgotten. This artifact left behind defines the humanity of glory and the mockery of pride. Sand is represented as time like within an hourglass with the grains of sand slowly pouring downwards. This illustration relates to how time and attrition has destroyed the immense works of Ozymandias, which were only in his worthless attempt to commemorate himself. By present day time and morality caught up with Ozymandias.

In "The Convergence of the Twain," pride is placed within the hands of the people. The Titanic and, just as in Ozymandias, was brought down by a force a nature, here being the iceberg. The ship is a representation of vanity which is ironic since the ship has sunk

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