Silence At The Sea Poem Summary

The poem begins with silence and nothingness with the exception of blackberries surrounding the narrator to exemplify her own isolation in her life. The narrator embarks on a journey in which at the end of the destination lies a sea; however, the narrator encounters a great space of emptiness when she arrives just as when she commences her voyage. For example, she emphasizes her isolation by repeating "nothing" in the first line (1). This repetition symbolizes the narrator isolation and emptiness in her life since nothing and silence surrounds her. In the third stanza, silence dominates the stanza until the last two lines, when a din breaks the silence, however the narrator repeats the word "nothing" again to emphasize her isolation and how …show more content…
Since, the grating sound the narrator encounters on her journey and once she reaches the end of the lane, contribute to the perpetuation of distress on the narrator as well as evoking uncertainty for not succeeding in arriving at the sea. For instance, in the second stanza, the narrator mentions "the choughs in black, cacophonous flocks," providing an ominous impression (10). The crows break the silence that surrounds the narrator, only to implement dissonant sounds. Crows and the color black possesses a negative connotation- normally death. Thus, the sound the crows produce create a petrifying feeling for the narrator. Seeing that the narrator relinquishes hope in arriving at the sea. Similarly, in the third stanza the narrator states "a din like silversmiths beating and beating at an intractable metal" (27). Since, the narrator compares a silversmith hammering an intractable metal it further emphasizes the continuation and prolonging of the din. The repetition of the word beating, which also insinuates a negative connotation, continues to express the narrator's inability to escape the din, ending the poem. Thus, the sound the crows and din generate promotes a sense of anguish in the narrator; the insufferable sound promotes