Not Waving but Drowning

By Liseth Cordero V.

The poem of Steve Smith, “Not Waving but Drowning”, exemplifies the idea that the poet is not always the lyrical voice in a poem. The purpose of this statement resides in the importance of involving the reader in the situation that the poem is describing. For that reason, “Not Waving but Drowning” is a poem that through the use of different voices, figurative language and different meanings recreates a situation that is going to make the reader analyze it and get involved to deeply understand its meaning.

First of all, as one can perceived in the reading, there are two voices on the poem. On one hand, there is a voice interpreted by the “dead man”. It is possible to see, that this character appears at the beginning when is about to die and he is moaning and claiming for help, but nobody sees him, so he is not heard or understood. On the other hand, there is other voice which is represented by the bystanders or watchers of the situation. Thes...

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