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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i liked her playful use of words
"nobody heard him, the dead man"
you can't hear a dead man! so, he was alwyas dead, in a sense that he never could pull himself out of the deep waters which he swam in all his life, without those little floaties, figuratively speaking.
this piece always sticks in my mind when i hear a very pessimistic person stuck in the mud not wanting to get out.
great piece!!!!!!!
(your welcome PK!!
)
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it is funny, the "too far out" is used as a metaphor here for a place in life, a struggle in life and the simple perception drowning or waving...wonderful...PK[thanks Rianna for the IM]
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I agree, this is an awesome poem in a sense that it shows people hide their feelings a lot of the time but when you need, call for help, don't be embarassed, we all have to sometime.
- Cait - -
I adore this poem....I see it as people who are overlooked because they grin and bear it...the type who are relentlessly cheerful but inside are screaming out to be saved! Sometimes it okay to call for help!
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When I turned to my mother later in life and cried my heart out to her about my horrible life, she said "But honey you always had such a good head on your shoulders!" The line from this poem came to me then....Mom, "I was much further out than you thought and not waving but drowning" When I decided to stop dog paddling the levy of tears broke through and I drowned. Love this poem.
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For me I always seem to read in this a kind of desperate cheerfulness - the face we put on for others - who think we must be such strong 'swimmers' and yet we don't let them close enough to hear the alarm. We are then left to face our tide alone.
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Stevie, Stevie, Stevie, I'm glad you're still here even though you died after 1950. I am, however, very distressed to see that Elizabeth Smart has been removed because she is the reason I found this site. I was looking for her photo and this was the only place that provided one. How smart of you, Stevie, not to even bother with a photo, though. Leaves much more to the imagination. Look! Some people still think it's important to know whether you were a woman or a man. You can bet these are the ones with very little.
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The funny thing about this is Stevie is actually a girl, which most people make the mistake of thinking she is a guy.
Of course translation is always up to the reader, but most people get the "in-over-their-head" type of translation.
The thing about this is, Not Waving but Drowning was actually part of a song. Stevie wrote a far bettter poem than the song. Now, I can't find the information to back myself up, but I know it is out there so if anybody could help I would be very thankful, maybe even a reward.
Edited on Mar 22, 3:42 p.m. because ''. -
I studied this poem in school last year, and I absolutely fell in love with it.
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i studied this poem in school and since then i loved it =)
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this is one of my favorite poems ever.it has such meaning to me personally.i found this after struggling to recover from my drug addiction....something i hid well from others for years.
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