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
Drowning Girl in the forefront of much of Lichtenstein's work as a means to engage the viewer. Measuring 171.6 cm × 169.5 cm (67.625 in × 66.75 in), "Drowning Girl" presents "a young woman who seems to have cried herself a river ... literally drowning in emotion," according to Janis Hendrickson. The melodrama makes it clear that she has been hurt by a "Brad", the name given to several of Lichtenstein's heroes. Vian Shamounki Borchert says that the caption makes it clear that the subject is practically "drowning in a sea of tears". In typical Lichtenstein fashion, the tragic female is presented