NOT WAVING BUT CLOWNING

Many teenagers have problems and I was no exception. I was in trouble at home and I was in trouble at school. I was being rejected on both fronts, and I could not talk to my friends (we didn’t, in the 1950s).

Naturally, I wasn’t going to let anyone see how I felt, so I played the clown.

My school was situated by the Thames, as you can see in the picture below. When I read the poem by Stevie Smith, I identified, as many people do, with the drownee..............





Not waving, but drowning

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.


Stevie’s father abandoned the family when she was three. Her mother died when Stevie was only sixteen.   To hear Stevie Smith read this poem, click on the link, scroll down and click again (takes a while to load).