‘Not Waving but Drowning’ is undoubtedly the most celebrated poem by Stevie Smith (1902-1971). In a 1995 poll, it was recognized as Britain’s fourth favorite poem. Originally published in 1957, this work intricately weaves together elements of comedy and tragedy, oscillating between childlike simplicity and a more somber, cynical undertone.
The essence of the poem revolves around a man who is seen flailing in the sea, desperately attempting to signal for help as he drowns. However, the onlookers mistakenly interpret his frantic gestures as friendly waves, resulting in his tragic demise.
In this analysis, we will delve into Stevie Smith’s language and stylistic choices in this poem to uncover its deeper meaning.
Summary
A succinct summary of the poem reveals that its apparent simplicity masks a complex and profound meaning.
The first stanza introduces the drowning man, whose cries for help go unheard (his dying moans are recounted after the fact; he is now referred to as ‘the dead man’). Despite his desperate flailing and cries for assistance, onlookers mistake his actions for jovial waving. The initial two lines are delivered by an impersonal narrator, while the last two lines present the voice of the dead man himself. This voice, speaking from beyond the grave with ‘I was much further out’ instead of ‘I am’, underscores his already fatal condition. The immediate identification of him as ‘the dead man’ in the opening line reinforces this notion.
The second stanza appears to be narrated again by the impersonal voice, though this is not definitively clear. The absence of quotation marks around the dead man’s words in the first stanza creates ambiguity regarding who is speaking. The voice in this stanza that begins with ‘Poor chap…’ could belong to the original narrator or perhaps even the crowd who witnessed the man’s struggles but failed to comprehend the gravity of his situation.
This stanza adds unexpected context to the narrative. The crowd members knew the drowning man; they were not mere strangers observing his final moments. They were familiar enough with him to explain his flailing arms as playful or ‘larking’, offering it as a rationale for their misinterpretation of his desperate gestures as friendly waving.
The syntax cleverly combines simplicity with childlike innocence: ‘It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way’. Note the absence of punctuation between ‘him’ and ‘his’, with no colon or comma to separate the two clauses. The phrase ‘They said’, presented in full in the fourth line of this stanza, raises questions about when ‘they’ took over the narrative. Did they take over from the third line or the first? This ambiguity, much like the man’s untimely death, envelops the poem in confusion.
The third and final stanza returns to the voice of the dead man, who ‘still … lay moaning’: not in the sea any longer, but in his grave; no longer dying, but definitively dead. Initially, when ‘the dead man’ moaned in the first stanza, the wording seemed peculiar: he was clearly alive (though doomed) when he ‘lay moaning’. The juxtaposition of ‘the dead man’ with ‘moaning’ prompted a double take: oh, he’s dead now, and his earlier moaning was from a living state.
In this concluding stanza, he moans from beyond the grave: he truly is a ‘dead man … moaning’. The transformation of ‘I was much further out’ into ‘I was much too far out all my life’ indicates that this is a ghostly voice addressing us, broadening the physical notion of drowning into something more symbolic. The cries for help are often misconstrued as expressions of joy; the warning signs that someone may be struggling are frequently misinterpreted by those around them.
Analysis
Like many of Stevie Smith’s works, ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ carries a light, almost humorous tone. The poem’s lines are lively and possess a singsong quality in their language and rhythm; it bears resemblance to light verse. The language is straightforward and accessible.
However, beneath this seemingly lighthearted exterior lies a profound and darker meaning. Any thorough analysis of ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ must acknowledge this duality while also considering the peculiarities in punctuation and word choice that contribute to its unsettling effect. For instance, the opening line (‘Nobody heard him, the dead man’) depicts the drowning man as an afterthought, even within the poem itself: he is first introduced as ‘him’ and only later defined by his tragic fate as ‘the dead man’.
Another notable aspect is the lack of punctuation in the line discussing the man’s heart giving way due to the cold. This detail can symbolize a broader emotional ‘coldness’, with the man’s heart representing not just the physical organ but also the emotional core of a person. The world’s harshness and lack of understanding may have contributed to his heartbreak.
The poem can thus be interpreted as an allegory for broader human struggles: many of us may feel ‘drowning’, or overwhelmed, under the weight of concerns, anxieties, or stress, while others misinterpret our cries for help as expressions of happiness or normalcy.
Form
‘Not Waving but Drowning’ is structured into three stanzas, each comprised of quatrains with an abcb rhyme scheme. However, the rhyme in the first and third stanzas, between ‘moaning’ and ‘drowning’, is imperfect, exemplifying the technique known as pararhyme or half-rhyme. This near-rhyme subtly reinforces the theme of misunderstanding at the poem’s core: the witnesses believed they comprehended the drowned man’s plight, only to realize they misinterpreted his most crucial gestures during his desperate struggle against drowning.