A poem to read in the bath… 'Not Waving but Drowning'
I remember the title of today's poem by Steve Smith from my schooldays but have no strong memory of reading the poem until many years later. But it always made me smile, then feel guilty for smiling.
[photo: poetryfoundation.org]
Because of copyright restrictions I am unable to reproduce the poem in full, but please search it out in an anthology or at your local library.
'Not Waving but Drowning'
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Stevie Smith [1902-1971] was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, and knowing that made a big impression on me: born in East Yorkshire, 1960. The fact that her family moved to London when she was three didn't stop me seeing her as a Yorkshire role model. Her poetry never seemed to fit a label and she seems to have been rather overlooked. I love her rather dry wit. My copy of Selected Poems was bought in October 1981, I know this as I have written my name and the date on the inside front cover. The green cover design [below] is still a favourite of mine. To watch a 1950s seaside film as Stevie Smith recites 'Not Waving But Drowning', click here.
To read Stevie Smith's biography at The Poetry Foundation, click here.
'Selected Poems' by Stevie Smith [UK: Penguin Classics]
Read these other excerpts and find a new poet to love:-
'Winter Song' by Wilfred Owen
'My Heart Leaps Up' by William Wordsworth
'Forgetfulness' by Hart Crane
A poem to read in the bath: 'Not Waving but Drowing' by Stevie Smith http://wp.me/p5gEM4-16j via @SandraDanby
Bryan Hemming	 September 21, 2014 at 11:51 am
I know the feeling of 'not waving but drowning' only too well.
Stevie Smith reads her poem very dryly indeed. Excellent!
The summer of 1953 was the year of my first trip to the seaside. We stayed in a caravan – which belonged to a friend of my father's called Mabel – in Chapel St Leonards, near Skegness in Lincolnshire. The film link reminded me of it.
Am I the only one who gets the impression parents name girls Mabel out of spite? It's a bit like calling them Edna, Enid or Ethel; not the best of starts in life.
sandradan1	 September 22, 2014 at 9:01 am
Names are just a generational thing. When I grew up all my Mum's friends were called these sort of names, so to me they seemed 'old-fashioned' but I'm sure they will come back into fashion 🙂 SD
Bryan Hemming	 September 22, 2014 at 9:09 am
I'm not so confident, I somehow can't quite imagine a rock, or Hollywood film star being called Ethel Braithwaite, or Enid Bottomley.
But there is a lot of historical drama on television, with lots of attractive characters called Lady this and Lady that. So you never know! SD
Perhaps you should be in the vanguard of bringing them back in vogue. You could write a blockbuster about two young women sharing a flat before they achieve stardom in the world of rock, movies and modelling. They could be called Ethel Braithwaite and Enid Bottomley!
Hm, maybe I should do it.