Not Waving but Drowning Not Waving but Drowning "Not Waving but Drowning" is a poem by the British poet Stevie Smith. It was published in 1957 as part of a collection of the same title. The most famous of Smith's poems, it gives an account of a drowned man whose distressed thrashing in the water had been mistaken for waving. The poem was accompanied by one of Smith's drawings, as was common in her work. The poem's personal significance has been the topic of several pieces of literary criticism because Smith was treated for psychological problems. She contemplated suicide at the age of eight
Instinctive drowning response by Frank Pia, based upon study of film footage of actual and near-drownings, and documented in his 1971 instructional film, "On Drowning", and a 1974 paper, "Observations on the drowning of nonswimmers". At the time, it was commonly believed that drowning involved agitated behaviors, although Pia cites an earlier (unspecified) 1966 paper as likewise observing that this was not necessarily the case. Instinctive drowning response The instinctive drowning response is an instinctive reaction that occurs in humans when close to drowning. While distress and panic may sometimes take place beforehand, drowning itself is quick and often silent. A person close