Tuesday, December 4, 2007

RS: My Favorite Poem

Nobody heard him, the dead man.
Still, he lay moaning,
"I was much further out than you thought and not waving but drowning."

Poor chap, loved larking and now he's dead.
The water was too cold for him,
Heart gave way they said.

No, no, no. It was too cold always.
Still the dead ones lay moaning. . .
I was much too far out all my life and not waving but drowning.

--Stevie Smith

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favorites as well, Rodney. How many of us have not been "waving but drowning?" It's an incredibly powerful metaphor.

AV said...

AV: larking. perfect. I've not read this before,but thank you for postingit.