Moreover, the poet insinuates her yearning to have someone there for her through this lonely atmosphere. This is exemplified when the woman “dreams the loathed ocean is coming for her”. The noun “dreams”, though it could literally signify that she dreamt the ocean approaching her in her sleep, it could also figuratively mean that she wishes for something or perhaps someone to be there for her. The fact that Copley illustrates this woman’s desperation for company to an extent that she would even want something she ‘loathed’ beside her is very powerful. The adjective ‘loathed’ utilised by the poet has strong connotations of deep hatred, detestation and we tend to conventionally believe that things we loathe, we do not desire to come to us. By subverting out archetypal expectations of this adjective, Copley emphatically expresses to the reader the extent of her misery and need for accompaniment – she would prefer to be with a foe than to be alone. Hence, this highlights how, in the poet’s eyes, the feeling of loneliness dominates hatred, in terms of unpleasantness – this one can infer that Copley intended to write this poem to place the feeling of loneliness on the highest pedestal of tragic emotions.
Furthermore, the poet creates a sense of lethargy and nihilism in the words of her poem – mirroring the woman-in-question’s deep depressive state. This is highlighted through Copley’s overuse of asyndeton throughout ‘At Sea’ – for instance: “now he’s gone, she dusts the house, sweeps the bleached verandah”. This perhaps-deliberate utilisation of asyndetic listing creates a slow, unenergetic atmosphere which mirrors the emotions associated being left alone. Asyndetons drag out the sentence, making it a mouthful and seem never-ending, thus Copley cleverly uses them throughout her poem to reinforce the woman’s sensation of boredom, which links to the initial line of the poem. Moreover, as readers, we receive this sense of nihilism and lack of desire to function through the poet’s employment of the alliterative phrase “climbing the cliffs, creeping in through the door”. The poet’s use of alliteration of the harsh ‘c’ consonant emphasises the continuous verb “creeping”. Copley’s interesting use of this verb instead of perhaps “crashing” or “splashing” to describe the motion of the ocean perhaps emits a sense of lethargy which directly mirrors the woman’s emotions after her partner left her. As well as the verb’s sinister connotations, it really encapsulates how loneliness is indeed a feeling that drains all energy, enthusiasm and life out any human being and we can truly feel this through the tone of Copley’s words.
Fundamentally, the poet ostensibly intends to foreground the unpleasantness of feeling loneliness and isolation – satirising how unhinging and harrowing such a feeling can be – to the degree that it removes all purpose and meaning from one’s life
