Not Waving But Drowning – Full Text Of Poem By Stevie Smith

Not Waving But Drowning – Full Text Of Poem By Stevie Smith

NOT WAVING BUT DROWNING – We are going to read the full text of the poem Not Waving But Drowning which was written by Stevie Smith.

NOT WAVING BUT DROWNING

As mentioned above, it was written by Stevie Smith.

Born Florence Margaret Smith, she went on to become one of the favorite poets of Britain. She gained the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 1969. This poein is among the top 10 poems in the UK.

She was born on September 20, 1902 in Hull, England. Her father left them to join the North Sea Patrol. This was when she was a young girl.

Her most popular subject in her poetry is death, which she calls her “gentle friend” despite her poetry having a volatile attachment to the Church of England.

Here is the full text of the poem uplifted from AllPoetry:

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.

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