The poem
Nobody heard him, the dead man, But still he lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking And now he's dead It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way, They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always (Still the dead one lay moaning) I was much too far out all my life And not waving but drowning.
I think what stevie smith is trying to say in Not wving but drowing. Is that he who is hurting makes it seem that everything is ok though it isn't. All the while it is getting worse,and worse, because you shut yourself away from people, whom dont seem to care but just overlook it. When there is a problem, alot worse than you seem to think, and no one is helping.-I think?
stevie is a woman not a man for a start.this is a poem about when a person is upset they just hide it all away and maybe just try to revel it through jokes "larking" but outsiders do not pick up on this and ignore till one day the suffer has drifted out to far they're not "waving" or/and "larking" anymore.They are drowning.
I came upon them separately, but I think it's pretty likely that this poem was the inspiration for Bush's drifting tune "Out of This World", written by Gavin Rossdale. It's one that I'd recommend listening to, but at the least, look up the lyrics, with such nuggets as "There are times when I feel that we're about to break / But it's too much to say", and "Are you drowning or waving? / Just need you to save me / Should we try to get along?"
I read the comments on this poem with interest. However this poem is about drug addiction. Read it with this in mind and it makes perfect sense.
Actually, it's about alcoholism.
I read this poem in high school and it has always stuck with me. The meaning that I took from it back in '92 was that peoples perceptions are often wrong. They see what they want to see. Is that person laughing or crying? do I care?
I think this poem can be left to ones' own interpretation and that all the commentaries above are good ones.I thought it was about a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown with all the signs apparent yet he still denies them. Everybody takes his word for it until he snaps. And then it's too late. This poem is trying to teach us to look at the signs and do something about them or we will wind up regreting it in the future. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
this poem is about misinterpretation. the man is not seeking admiration for his crazy antics, but crying out for help.
I was first exposed to this poem in a Humanism in Literature group I attended. Each time I read it, it strikes me differently for I am in a different place. Is it the "dead man" or me who is not waving, but drowning?
After reading "Not waving but Drowning" I sat in my room for 3 days meditating over what this poem has. I was brought to tears when I found out that this poem is about my life. Legalize it.
Vic Chestnutt sings a beautiful rendition of this poem that accentuates its perfect lyricism. We've all been/are misunderstood and not Really heard by so many. Alcohol and drugs can make this stand out more but few have expressed it as achingly as Stevie Smith here. The poem usually reminds me to seize the day(s)... and stay within shouting distance of folks so they don't always have to guess what my, often wild, flailings are intended as.
i am writing a review book in this poem and other of stevie smith's poems. i am accepting any and all reasonable comments and personal views of stevie smith's poems. if you have any comments or suggestions call me. US (901) 870- 5973
I see this as a suicide story.
In the first verse, the man is dying emotionally, being overcome by his depression.
In the second verse, the man has died (committed suicide) and his friends are trying to make sense of it. They don't understand since he didn't appear depressed (or maybe he did, but by the time they realized it it was too late).
In the third verse, the man is speaking in spirit, to his friends who still cannot hear him. Despite his facade of everything being ok, he had been suffering all his life, trying in vain to ask for help, not being heard.
I've read the previous comments, and honestly they're so limited for a poem that so concisely covers the entire human condition.
I think the theme of this poem is lack of communication. there is metaphor for alienation and nonconformism. Furthermore, there is bitterness of loneliness.
people overlook suffering. this poem emphasises the fact that many people seem cheerful on the outside, whereas they are truly depressed within. On the outside, it seems as if he is just waving. But it is really a cry for help.
It's such a complex song but here's one view. Hear the voices in the poem, his and the world's. He did one thing, the others perceived it as other and saw him completely different (if anyone really looked that is). Even 'dead', still he has to clear it out... But it's the voices, like every sentence has a tone. Seems more like a poem about life, not death.
I think that 'they' the people around him, hear his 'moaning', but have heard it so often: 'still he lay moaning', that they think he is just attention seeking, and so no longer hear him or see him as 'waving' for help. So he gives up: 'his heart gave way', and commits suicide.
this poem is about people of our society who are are happy and contented on the outside and seem to be enjoying life but are suffering on the inside-'larking' on the outside and drowning internally.
the theme of the poem is definitely lack of communication... it gives us a lesson to always let your felling go or share them time to time.
I first read this poem about 3 years ago. It has never left me.I believe the poem is about depression, for whatever reason. Presently I am experiencing severe depression, which as anyone knows who has experienced it, like falling into a big black hole. Generally people who do not get depressed do not understand or feel embarrassed or bored, which doesn't really help with communication. So we laugh, mostly at our own…
Read the whole commentI first read this poem about 3 years ago. It has never left me.I believe the poem is about depression, for whatever reason. Presently I am experiencing severe depression, which as anyone knows who has experienced it, like falling into a big black hole. Generally people who do not get depressed do not understand or feel embarrassed or bored, which doesn't really help with communication. So we laugh, mostly at our own expense, and make jokes, keeping our dark side very private. I have one friend who understands because she's been there. NO! We don't wallow, just accept when the other is feeling hopeless. I attend a psychiatrist for the first time ever and am quite open about it. But being depressed is a very lonely place.
Our man in the poem has finally exposed himself to his f friends, unfortunately too late.
This poem is definitely a poem having to deal with society; I can see how many people see both sides of the poem- both the figurative and the literal- because it makes sense. More than anything, however, I feel like people should be able to learn from this poem that obviously outside appearances are often false.
The nominal subject—a plea for help mistaken for a salutation—practically embodies the dominant theme of twentieth-century lyric poetry; that is, the agony of the insulated, isolated self, which keeps straining and failing to metamorphose into language. But Smith pushes things to the border of parody—the “dead one” is somehow “still moaning” (and moaning an unpoetic “Oh, no no no” at that), his life is flippantly…
Read the whole commentThe nominal subject—a plea for help mistaken for a salutation—practically embodies the dominant theme of twentieth-century lyric poetry; that is, the agony of the insulated, isolated self, which keeps straining and failing to metamorphose into language. But Smith pushes things to the border of parody—the “dead one” is somehow “still moaning” (and moaning an unpoetic “Oh, no no no” at that), his life is flippantly eulogized by the phrase “he always loved larking” (larking?), and the simultaneously fussy and tub-thumping rhyme on “They said” in the second stanza puts a weirdly comic spin on the spectacle of a man’s heart giving way. One reaches for the word tragic-comic, but it doesn’t seem adequate; as in many Smith poems, we seem to be getting too much information, and not enough. orr
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I agree with you all.As we know any poem may appeal to me whereas it dose appeal to you.You can see what i can not see.As far as Ia m concerned this poem is about suffering in silence. To me this is the "human condition" and about depression !
ex I have lots of cold ppl around me no 1 eva understands me all what they care about money,sex.... but true feelings are gone with the wind homie.