Not Waving But Drowning- Poem response 23

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 Smith

After we analyzed this poem in class, I found that I really
liked it. The visual of the title is captivating.
Everyone has seen the classic scene of someone flailing
all over in the water that makes it look like they are waving
but really they are drowning. I like the 3 stanzas, and how
the last line, "I was too far out all y life
And not waving but drowning," completely comes back to the
first stanza and helps to tie the whole poem together. I
thought this poem was about a person who their whole
life had been living by their own rules, or "Larking"
all over, until what they liked actually made them die.
The person was drowning the whole time, and no body stopped
to actually help them, or ask if they need help. In class,
someone said that it is easier for us to just assume that
everyone is okay, and not actually take on the possibility
that the person isn't actually happy and reach out to help.
This poem is pretty cool :)