“Titanic” by David R. Slavitt
...bered in everyone’s hearts through books and movies. It is written in a mellow and calm way. It is not sad, like most poems that are written about “tragedies”. It makes you feel happy for the people who died on the Titanic. They got to die in a way that will be remembered forever. They got to die quickly and painlessly, surrounded by family, music, and lights. The poem made the way they died seem pleasurable, spending their last hours on top of the world. The poem paints a vivid image in the reader’s mind of what it would be like to be on the Titanic. The reader can almost hear the beautiful and elegant music being played live. He/she can imagine being surrounded by beautiful lights and chandlers, with people all around him/her. The reader is able to imagine the ship sinking; hearing the cries of the people all around him/her; the ice cold water slowly surrounding him/her and everything just going numb. It is very easy to visualize being on the Titanic, on that fateful day. In the last line of the poem, “We all go: only a few, first class.” “First class” has several meanings. First off, it means that on the ship ...