The Poem ' Not Waving But Drowning ' By Stevie Smith

The sentence structure of this poem is unlike a lot of poems that you might see where the lines are of equal length and contain the same amount of sylables. Rather than taking that approach, Blanco's poem contained senteneces, and lines that were all of different length. For example, in the second stanza blanco included two very long lines that included dashes and comma's because he was creating a list. Some of the very short lines feautured throughout the poem occur beacause the sentence was too long to fit into the line before and was continued in the next line.

The poem is written in free verse, offers no type of rhyme scheme, and in one long stanza. This contributes to

The poem is structured in a way which follows the proper metre for a sonnet, however, it is unusual in a sense that it is free verse and has no rhyme scheme. The sentences are broken to fit the iambic pentameter. This creates pauses, and a choppiness in the flow

The poem is separated into two parts, each with sixteen lines, and is loosely based on an iambic pentameter metre. The rhyme scheme is ABAB throughout the poem, with the noticeable exception of the last four lines of part II, in which it changes to

The poem is composed in free verse and it has no rhyme scheme or meter. It is 51 lines long and takes no particular structure with fluctuated line lengths all throughout the work. It is told as story from what can be accepted is a young boys' viewpoint. There are points in the story where it makes it clear the story is being told later on, as in line 8 where it is composed "Even/a quarter century later…." however a significant part of the story is told in the current state. This change makes readers feel as though we are

The poem does not follow a rhyme scheme or meter, which means that there is rhythm in the poem and it makes the poem more like a song. The poem has four stanza’s and has five lines within each stanza.

This theme is brought through the song by showing multiple literary devices. Such as “I'm the one at sail, I’m the master of my sea”. This metaphor shows the realization and empowerment that oneself can give in a depressing situation. This simile “Falling like ashes to the ground, Hoping my feelings they would drown” compares his feeling of sadness and depression to ashes, and wanting them to drown and vanish, from his life. This line, “All the hate that you’ve heard has turned your spirit to a dove” explains how all of the hate that he has experienced and gone through has turned his feelings around, and decided to look on the bright side of things. Personally I think this is a great

Apart from that, the poem consists of a series of turns that reflect different parts of the speaker’s feelings and the experiences he had. The significance of these turns is made possible through the use of stanza breaks. For example, the first

One of the most frequent figurative language used in this poem is imagery. In fact, imagery is used throughout the whole poem. For example, in the first poem the reader can imagine a man jumping into the river and sinking, since the stanza states, “I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn't, So I jumped in and sank.” There is also imagery in stanza two, when the speaker says, “I came up once and hollered! I came up twice and cried! If that water hadn't a-been so cold I might've sunk and died.” From this quatrain, the reader can imagine a person drowning. They can also infer that the man was shivering, considering the water felt

The structure of the poem resembles the form of a conversation between a mother and her son. It is free verse and written in the vernacular, which means that it mimic the patterns of a speech and diction of a conversation.

The poetic form of this poem is a free verse narrative with quatrains. Some exact rhyme is used, as seen in lines 1 and 2 of stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9. “spring summer winter autumn”, in stanzas 1, 3 and 9, is repetition that expresses the passing of time. (Notice the word order change each time the seasons are mentioned in the poem.) Alliteration is used in line 4 in the phrase “he sang his didn’t and danced his did.” “wish by spirit and if by yes” in line 32 employs assonance. Consonance can be seen in “sun moon… rain” in lines 8, 21 and 36, as well as in “kiss his face” in line 26.

Because the poem is long, it won’t be quoted extensively here, but it is attached at the end of the paper for ease of reference. Instead, the paper will analyze the poetic elements in the work, stanza by stanza. First, because the poem is being read on-line, it’s not possible to say for certain that each stanza is a particular number of lines long. Each of several versions looks different on the screen; that is, there is no pattern to the number of lines in each stanza. However, the stanzas are more like paragraphs in a letter than

The poem is structured with 26 lines and each line is of nearly equal length. There is fluidity

In “Wanting To Die”, Anne Sexton illustrates vividly an analogy that compares one’s desire to commit suicide and drug addiction. Though this poem may initially seem to revolve around the themes of death and suicide, there are several examples in the poem that can be referenced to drug addiction and the intentions of the drug user. In general, the tone of this poem is luridly depressing as it produces an imagery that is painstakingly dark and morbid. It encapsulates the reader within the mind of the suicidal thinker through specific personifications of suicide and death. Sexton also utilizes metaphors and similes in this poem to describe how suicide conducts a mind of its own which engages in

There are three distinct tones in this poem. The poem right away has a very melancholy tone, which starts off by just describing how the main individual is having a hard time thinking and decides to go for a swim. But then, the individual is enveloped in suffering: “I came up once and hollered” (5). Pain is also quite prevalent emotion in this stanza: “I came up twice and cried” (6). Stanza 7 is where the tonal shift begins: “I could’ve died for love-But for