Wow! Helena Bonham Carter reads ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ for A Poem For Every Autumn Day

Helena Bonham Carter gives an utterly compelling reading of the Stevie Smith poem, ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ that appears in Allie Esiri’s anthologies ‘A Poem for Every Night of the Year’ and ‘A Poem for Every Autumn Day’. Helena reads this for the launch of the anthology, anthology, ‘A Poem for Every Autumn Day’, in a film made during the lockdown summer of 2020 in Wiltshire, England, directed by Paul Weiland.

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Allie’s anthologies contain poems for every day of the year, each one with an introduction. Here is how this poem appears in the books:

This wonderful poem by Stevie Smith was published in 1957. In an interview about the poem, she explained that it was about how many people pretend out of bravery that they are ‘very jolly and ordinary sort of chaps’, when, actually, they find life to be a real struggle – they’re not waving, but drowning. As the days get shorter and nights darker and more enveloping throughout Autumn, it’s easy to find one’s mood plummet. Here it’s as if Smith is calling on us to look out for our friends whose cheerful personas may belie some personal troubles.

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.

Видео Wow! Helena Bonham Carter reads ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ for A Poem For Every Autumn Day канала YouTube Poetry with Allie Esiri