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[_intimacy]

i need to find a critical analysis on the poem "Not Waving but Drowning" by Stevie Smith.. does anyone know any websites like sparknotes but for poetry?
most of the ones i've seen cost money.

Comments

[imonlyapuppet]

"My interpretation goes as this. The modern industrial society she lived in still continues to this day. This is a landscape where a city is not a community, but a plethora of sub-communities. Most people seem to have a hard time finding their niche in this environment, which I believe is why people have posted ideas here, to connect with others and express themselves. Stevie Smith draws on this idea of isolation with the image of drowning. How many times has someone wanted a helping hand to pull them out of the waters of life and stabilize themselves on dry land? "Nobody heard him," yet he wishes to be heard. He was "not waving but drowning." Hello we wave to others, while inside we are suffering from our own demons and ills. Why does no one lend a helping hand to this drowning person? Because they perceived him as a-ok. He was only waving right? Blame may be put on others who did not reach out and lend their hand to him, but why did he allow himself to drown in the first place? Did he put up a facade by "larking" all the time. Did

[imonlyapuppet]

That's just somebody's opinion I found on a message board. Maybe it can give you ideas, its the best i could do.

[_intimacy]

i love you.

[the only thing is, the sources need to be credible.. like a book, not a message board or someone's random opinion. the research paper is more about finding resources rather than interpereting the poem myself.]

i still love you though. so thanks :)

[imonlyapuppet]

"This poem is very interesting! I'm a college freshman and am about to write a report on some of the many interpretations that can be arrived at when reading this poem... So far, I've come up with 4 interpretations