Well even though it stated in the subtitle that this is a poem about the Titanic, I could have easily figured that out from within the text itself. The speaker mentions the iceberg twice- "prepared a sinister mate for her-so gaily great- a shape of ice" and "in shadowy silent distance grew the Iceberg too"- and the poem is clearly about a ship- "in a solitude of the sea".
I felt like the author took a different approach to this event than most other people. Quite a few people refer to this event as a great tragedy of human history, but Hardy seems to feel that these people brought their fate upon themselves for being too full of pride and vanity. This is evident in several lines, including "over the mirrors meant to glass the opulent", "deep from human vanity", "jewels in joy designed to ravish the sensous mind", and most obviously "dim moon- eyed fishes near gaze at the gilded gear and query: 'What does this vaingloriousness down here?'". He basically says that God or fate- "Immanent Will" and "the Spinner of the Years"- made this happen because the people were too vain. It seemed a little disrespectful, but that's just my opinion.
Despite the disrespect, I did like how he mentioned that it could not have been foreseen and also that it shocked "two hemispheres"- because the HMS Titanic was travelling from England to the United States.
Until Next Time,
Alysse
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