The poem “Titanic” by David R. Slavitt is related to one of the most significant yet terrible point in time, of the world shipbuilding. David R. Slavitt, goes into great description in order to help the reader imagine the terrifying situation. The author creates a unique impression of power and money, but shifts gears to a terrifying sensation. The author unfolds that those passengers, who purchased a ticket, perished in the freezing water of The Atlantic Ocean. Nonetheless, the death of those fortunate passengers is not forgotten, for they leave behind their mark in history. David R.
Slavitt, uses several literary devices in order to, enhance his purpose of the poem; such as nobody can emerge death and dying with multiple people is better than dying alone. One of the themes that is demonstrated by Slavitt in his poem “Titanic”, is that nobody can escape death. First of all, David R. Salvitt begins the poem by asking “who does not love the Titanic? ” (1) he causes the reader to pause and analyze the question. Although, the majority of the people reading the poem “Titanic” were not alive at the moment of the Titanic. The author assumes that mostly everyone has at least heard rumors about the Titanic.
Moreover, David R. Salvitt asks “If they sold passage tomorrow for that same crossing, who would not buy? ” (2-4) he wants to reveal his message by asking questions to make the reader analyze how people view the Titanic. At the time that The Titanic was completed, everyone wanted to get a hold of a ticket on the luxurious ship. The Titanic was the most luxurious and biggest ship ever built in world history. Heather Kelly comments “The Titanic was a British luxury passenger ship completed in 1912 that was one of the largest of its kind at the time”.
For this reason, Slavitt opens up the poem with questions in order to enhance one of the themes of the poem, nobody can escape death. Slavitt uses for example those passengers in the Titanic who lost their life, and were not expecting any problems with the ship. However, since the Titanic was considered to be unsinkable, no one expected to die in that cruse. Heather Kelly comments “When built it was widely deemed to be virtually unsinkable, but the ship met with disaster after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage. ” The author describes that the people around the world are in shock when they heard the awful news about The Titanic.
Moreover, the other theme that David R. Slavitt demonstrated in the poem is that dying wit| multiple people is better than dying alone. Slavitt comments in the poem “To go down… We all go down, mostly alone. But with crowds of people, friends, servants, well fed, with music, with lights! Ah! ” (5-7) sets the stage for the reader, in order to imagine the terrifying moment when the Titanic was sinking. The author, describes that when the Titanic was sinking, the passengers died together with the servants, but well fed and listing to music.
Slavitt, wants the reader to realize that when people die in a great amount, their death is remembered for a greater amount of time compared to single death. For the reason, that people are more likely to remember the death of multiple people, and are more likely to forget the death of a single person. Slavitt, uses the passengers of the Titanic as an example, everyone still Furthermore, David R. Salvitt is a talented and unique poet, with impressing work such as “Titanic”. The manner that Slavitt composes his poems is impressing, because he shifts the tone of a poem.
Henry Taylor concluded that “Salvitt is also a master of tonal variety; within the same poem he can make shifts of tone which most poets would find too risky. ” He likes to take risky decisions to see the outcome in the end. Also, Salvitt is an impressing poet for the reason that he does not write novels or poems just for money or fame, but he actually loves and enjoys to write. George Garret comments that “Although he has written and published seventeen novels in the past fourteen years, David Salvitt considers himself first and foremost a poet, a poet who writes novels to earn some time and money to support his habit of writing poetry. Slavitt wrote the poem “Titanic” in 1983. Slavitt wrote the poem, seventy-one years after disaster of The Titanic. However, Slavitt used that towards his advan ge, in order to help the reader, remember and imagine the death of those passengers. Slavitt comments that “And the world, shocked, mourns, as it ought to do and almost never does. ” The author describes that the people around the world are in shock, because no one assumed that the Titanic would sink.
Salvitt wrote “there will be the books and movies to remind our grandchildren who we were and how we died, and give them a good cry”, he recognizes that the death of those passengers will never be forgotten. Salvitt describes that the movies and books about The Titanic will help people remember the death of those passengers. The great talent that David R. Slavitt has for writing poems is a huge advantage, for composing poems. Nevertheless, the physical structure of the poem ‘Titanic” plays a huge role in the message that Slavitt wants get across.
The way that Salvitt organized the poem “Titanic” is astonishing in several ways. First of all, since the poem is divided in several sections it falls under the stanzaic classification form. Slavitt composed the poem “Titanic” in free verse, with five stanzas, and with barely any fixed structure. Shin comments that “The poem almost seems like a written form of everyday speech, with a combinations of questions, exclamations, and statement that create a colloquial tone for the poem. ” Slavitt constructed the perfect style that suits his poem “Titanic”, in which he more assured in his message.
Additionally, Slavitt did not mixed his poem “Titanic” with any type of rhyming. Moreover, David R. Slavitt amplified his patterns of rhythm by using stressed and unstressed syllables throughout the poem. He composed the poem in an lambic pattern, in order to make it sound like an ordinarily conversation. The meter, rhythm, and organization of the poem “Titanic” helps Slavitt in strengthening his purpose for the poem. Moreover, Slavitt uses several different literary devices in the poem “Titanic” in order to help guide the reader and reveal his massage.
A perfect example of allegory in the poem is when Slavitt describes the thrill and fame regardless of the terrible ending. Slavitt writes “But with crowds of people, friends, servants, well fed, with music, with lights! Ah! ” (6-7) Slavitt magnify the comfort of knowing that they had the honor of dying together. An allegory that the human flesh is selfish needs and wants to gain fame and acknowledgment no matter the cost. Also, Slavitt uses verbal irony in the poem, by asking “Who does not love Titanic? ” (1) truly meaning the opposite. Salvitt used this irony make the reader think about the good and bad of The Titanic.
Another example of irony is in “who would not buy? ” (4) for the reason that no one could ever buy a ticket to The Titanic ever again. There is a more solid meaning in these irony, in this occasion just by sacrificing their lives. Slavitt did not utilize symbols to depict his message, for the reason that he gives a straight forward message. Finally, Slavitt writes “we all go down,” it is a suitable metaphor for the reason that the ship is literary sinking. The outstanding manner that Slavitt uses different literary devices, to make his message more comprehensible.
In essence, David R. Slavitt is a unique and talented poet with amazing work like his poem “Titanic”. Slavitt construct a unique impression of power and money, but later shifts gears to a more terrifying sensation. The author unfolds that those passengers who bought a ticket died in the freezing waters of The Atlantic Ocean. Although, those passengers died decades ago their death will never be forgotten. Slavitt uses his talent skills in order to enhance his message of the poem, which are nobody can emerge death and dying with multiple people is better than dying alone.
