Seen as the epitome of Britain’s wealth and power, the "Titanic" was extravagantly appointed for the British and American rich, and exhibited the new technology and fashions of the day. In the eyes of its makers the ship was unsinkable. Critic Peter Childs describes the "Titanic" as "full of Edwardian confidence but bound for disaster" and it is this display of vanity and pride that Hardy sardonically highlights in the first five stanzas, as he contrasts the ship’s current position at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to its glorious construction and launch. By juxtaposing expensive items like the "jewels in joy designed" with their sea-bed position where they "lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind" (IV, 12), Hardy emphasises the immense waste caused by the sinking. Another stanza has: "Dim moon-eyed fishes near/Survey the gilded gear/And query:"What does this vaingloriousness down here?"