This is not my finest piece. I wrote this quickly and am now catching typos and errors in my word selections. However, since this blog is a collection of my written work as I progress through my degree program, I prefer to not fix the errors as they represent the quality of the work I produced, submitted, and was subsequently graded on.
The poem I selected to respond to is below, followed by my full essay.
Not Waving But Drowing
By Stevie Smith
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.
Reading Response to Poetry
Poetry is meant to evoke strong reactions and emotions
out of its readers. The poem Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith does
just that. In only twelve lines this
short poem discusses the circumstances of a man’s death while the author’s use
of literary elements alludes to much deeper issues concerning how he lived as
well as how he died. As a reader I found Smith’s use of language, the content
of her poem, and the theme it seeks to express engaging and interesting as they
make the poem relatable to many real life circumstances in today’s society.
The language that Stevie Smith uses in her poem is casual
and easy to read. Unlike many poems, the flow of Smith’s words are somewhat
conversational. The conversational
elements in this play are brought out by the use of three different personas: a
speaker, the dead man, and an unnamed and unspecific group of outsiders that
are meant to represent the dead man’s friends, or perhaps more appropriately,
mere acquaintances (Mallot, 2003). They seem to respond to each other by
interjecting their thoughts or comments back and forth, both creating an ease
in the sentence structure as well as bringing new perspectives, and
consequently, further insight, to the reader. This ease in words makes the tone
neither too serious nor too casual; rather, the tone is neutral. The exception to this neutrality is the voice
of the dead man who adds an element of sadness. This sadness is felt in his
“moaning”, while everyone else speaks with more objectivity and lack of genuine
sentiment. For instance, in the second stanza the dead man’s supposed friends are
said to say “Poor chap, he always loved larking” (as cited in Clugston, 2010,
sec. 10.1). While the words poor chap express an element of sympathy, there is
a serious lack of heartfelt emotion over his death. The lack of emotion adds to the tone of
neutrality while also reinforcing the assumption that they are mere
acquaintances and not true friends. As a
reader, I can almost imagine these people gossiping in a group about the man’s
death before abandoning the topic for a conversation about the weather. Meanwhile, an outside speaker states that the
man’s “moaning” is unheard, suggesting that the speaker is slightly sensitive
to it (Clugston, 2010). Overall, the
conversational language of the speaker and the man’s acquaintances, despite
slight sensitivity and light sympathy, lack any emotion thus creating a tone of
neutrality with underlined sadness that the man’s moaning is not heard and his
death is not genuinely cared about.
Since the tone does not reflect great depth of emotion
and significance, the content of her poem becomes ever more important in
understanding the underlined issues in the life, and death, of the man. The
dying man says that he was “much further out than you thought / And not waving
but drowning” (as cited in Clugston, 2010, sec. 10.1), which is symbolic to how
he lived while presenting imagery to how he died, simultaneously. The distance that is mentioned and the
reference to drowning tells the reader that the man is out on a frozen lake
that he has fallen into. One can surmise that the lake is frozen as his
acquaintances are next quoted saying that his heart must have stopped due to
the cold (Clugston, 2010). From a distance away a drowning man in the water
could easily be misinterpreted as a man waving on top of the ice. It is the distance between his acquaintances that
begin to allude to the isolation that the man must have felt in his life. There
is a feeling of yearning to be acknowledged that the man has in his unheard
words. The sense of deafness that the
acquaintances have to the dead man is understood as they do not acknowledge his
statement that he is “not waving but drowning” by their assumption that he must
have been “larking” (joking). Such deafness is metaphorical of the lack of
communication and acknowledgement the dead man had in his relationships with
others while his physical distance from them is symbolic of the emotional
distance from them he must have felt in life (Civello, 1983). The symbolism of drowning, implying the
presence of water that is understood as a symbolism for emotion, conveys the
overwhelming emotional turmoil that his isolation causes him. The word
“drowning” is also used connotatively as a reference to depression, the inability
to help one’s self, and loneliness. His
acquaintances fail to notice that the dying man was “much too far out all my
life” (as cited by Clugston, 2010, sec. 10.1), which, in addition to a neutral
tone, ignite my sympathy as a reader. He
obviously tried to communicate his needs his whole life but was unable to break
through a wall of indifference.
The theme of this poem is loneliness and silent suffering
in today’s society. This theme is
presented by the symbolism and deafness of the dying man’s words and the
subsequent lack of genuine sympathy and caring felt by the acquaintances. The hint of sensitivity that the speaker
appears to have makes me, as a reader, sensitive to the theme as well. It is
not uncommon for people to feel misunderstood, mute, and distanced from the
people in their life. This poem suggests that we as a society ought to examine
our relationships and take more consideration of each other. Perhaps the person
we think we know, the joker for instance, is hurting inside and seeking to be
heard and understood. I am reminded of the many connections that I have made
throughout my life. Many friendships were more like acquaintances with very
little consideration of one another’s feelings being considered. Some relationships never went beyond surface
level and common courtesy. Smith’s poem
mocks the trite way people relate to each other – often times we are blind to
each other’s suffering and needs.
I am drawn to this poem for the simplicity of the words
and the complexity of their many meanings. Just as the imagery in the poem
suggests, I imagine the theme of Smith’s poem to be much like a frozen lake: a
still and quiet surface that hides what lies beneath. I would venture to guess that everyone can
relate to being misunderstood or feeling alone at some point in their
life. Smith’s use of language, content,
and the theme of her poem are effective tools for not just capturing my
imagination, but also evoking my sympathies and awareness that this may also be
an issue in the lives of those around me.
References
Civello, C. A.
(1983). Smith's NOT WAVING BUT DROWNING. Explicator, 42(1), 58 Retrieved
from http://web.ebscohost.com.
Clugston,
W. R. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, CA:
Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books.
Mallot, J. (2003). Not
Drowning But Waving: Stevie Smith and the Language of the Lake. Journal Of
Modern Literature, 27(1/2), 171-187. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books.
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