Student Question
What is your analysis of the poem "Not Waving but Drowning" by Stevie Smith?
Quick answer:
"Not Waving but Drowning" by Stevie Smith explores the contrast between tone and content, as well as the relationship between the poet and the speaker. The poem's casual tone contrasts sharply with its serious theme of a man signaling for help. This dichotomy is central, reflecting the misunderstanding of distress signals. The "I" may represent both the poet and the deceased, suggesting Smith's personal struggles, adding irony and depth to the poem's exploration of hidden despair.
"Not Waving but Drowning" is one of the best-known poems of the twentieth century, and there have been many different critical approaches to writing essays on it. Two such approaches, which may be combined to good effect, are to examine the dichotomy between tone and content, and to consider the relationship between the poet and the speaker in the poem.
The poem has a casual, almost lighthearted tone in such lines as "Poor chap, he always loved larking."
This seems inappropriate to the seriousness of the subject. The dichotomy between the two is mirrored in the central image of the poem: that the man who was desperately signaling for help appeared to be waving cheerfully.
The "I" in the poem may refer to the poet as well as the dead man. Smith concludes with the following lines:
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
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