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 Car", "Conversation", and "Whaam!". Marketing materials for the show included the lithograph "Crak!" The Museum of Modern Art acquired "Drowning Girl" in 1971, and their webpage for this work credits Philip Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. Bagley Wright for the acquisition. Some sources describe the subjects of Lichtenstein's tragic girls series as heroines (in the sense that they are the counterparts to the heroes), and others do not (in the sense that they are not heroic). "Drowning Girl" is a painting of a female subject who would prefer to give in to the power of the ocean than call for