“Not Waving but Drowning.” In the midst of a good time any person, no matter how happy they may seem, could be fighting an inner turmoil and be crying out for help. Different aspects of Stevie Smith’s life are mirrored in many of the subjects in her poems. Stevie Smith’s early experience with loss and the lack of time to grieve properly not only affected her personal life, but also permeated her work such as in “Not Waving but Drowning” through her style of writing, chosen themes, and various perspectives.
Stevie Smith was born on the 20th of September in 1902 in Hull of Yorkshire in London, England as Florence Margaret Smith, later nicknamed Stevie after a friend compared her to a popular jockey Steve Donoghue. Stevie was born a weak and fragile baby, possibly due to her mother’s sickened condition at the time and was christened at home instead of at the church her sister Molly was christened at. Stevie’s parents were Ethel Rachel Spear and Charles Ward Smith. Not much is known of their relationship before or after the birth of their daughters. Charles wanted to go into the Navy, however, when his brother drowned
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She finally was enrolled at Palmers Green High School. She quickly caught up with her studies but showed no enthusiasm for any subjects except music. During her music class she would randomly begin singing any melody that came to her head. She later was asked not to sing because she distracted the other girls. When Stevie turned sixteen her mother passed away possible due to heart failure. With her Aunt Lion’s love and support Stevie finished school. Stevie and her family had no money to send her to college so Stevie’s dream to become a journalist did not seem like a possibility. Luckily Molly had received a scholarship and the money she had left over went to Stevie to attend Mrs. Hoster’s Secretarial Training College in central