It might seem natural to read “The Convergence of the Twain” as about the omnipotence and immortality of the Christian God in opposition to the false vanity and mortality of human actors. This is, after all, a popular Judeo-Christian narrative, as expressed in the story of the Tower of Babel. However, Hardy was himself a professed atheist, a belief which impacted many of his novels and poetry.
To learn more about Thomas Hardy's complex relationship to religion, see Thomas Hardy and Christianity in the ClassicNote for Thomas Hardy's Poems.
