Diction

"...Gaze at the gilded gear
And query: 'What does this vaingloriousness down here?'..."

Thomas Hardy uses some strong diction in "The Convergence of the Twain." There were some words I did not understand and also some really good adjectives.  "Vaingloriousness" was a word I was confused by. After looking it up and using the context of the poem, I think it is referring to the attitude of the rich that they are better than others.  "Salamandrine fires" is another phrase I did not understand, but I learned that it refers to the old belief that salamanders can survive in fire.  After learning what it means, it is effective describes the engine room of the ship.  "Opulent," "grotesque," "ravish," "sensuous," and "solitude" were also some other well choosen words used in the poem. This words each gave a better image of what was happening in the poem.