Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving but Drowning” and Adrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” are similar in that both poems’ characters have lived their lives with regret and sorrow. Neither of their lives were lived to the fullest and as death approaches, the question of, “what could have been?” remains forever unanswered.
Upon first reading, Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving but Drowning,” the image of a man, out in the middle of the ocean, may first come to mind. In desperation he is waving for help because he has swam out too far and is unable to make it back to the shore. But people misinterpret his cries as simply being a wave hello.
However, a deeper examination of the poem brings forth a more precise interpretation of its meaning. “Not Waving but Drowning,” is referring to the man’s struggle for help in his everyday existence. People perceive him, as being one who has everything desired in life; financial stability, strength, control, happiness, and independence. While in actuality, this man is emotionally bankrupt. But the front he has put on for so long prevents people from seeing the weakness and struggle he is enduring. In a sense, he is secretly drowning.
The line, “It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,” refers to the loneliness in this man’s life. Perhaps he pushed people away from him and lived his life in isolation. Maybe he never opened himself up enough to engage in personal relationships and to love and feel love for another. Or, perhaps he was active in society and took part in social gatherings and hosted parties. And by doing this, he was seen as being happy. But he may have done this just to further disguise who he really was or how he really felt inside. No one really knew him. The irony of the poem is that the very stereotype placed on this man throughout his life ends up being the downfall to his death.
“I was much too far out all my life,” could mean a number of things. Perhaps the misconceptions pertaining to this man began during childhood. It’s possible that he came from an abusive or unstable household, in which he was ashamed of. And when in the presence of others, he would put on an act that everything in his life was great. The shame he felt would have remained bottled inside and he would never have learned to express his feelings or reveal his true self. This could have carried on through adulthood, causing the man to feel shame in himself, which would have never allowed him to entirely open himself up to others. Therefore this man is living with an internal conflict, with the opposing force being his true identity against his perceived identity. Or perhaps “I was much too far out all my life,” pertains to this man’s lifestyle or to habits he possesses. Maybe he has lived a life that would be considered abnormal by others and thus alienates himself from those around him. One can only speculate as to what inner conflicts this man was facing that would cause him to live his the life the way he has. The possibilities are endless.
The theme of Smith’s poem is “what’s in the eye of the beholder.” People perceive the man as being entirely different then who or what he is. It’s human nature to pass judgement on a person before really knowing them. A label is placed upon an individual and that individual may misconceive that label as being who they have to be, to be accepted by society. In the man’s life, the labels placed upon him causes him to, in a sense, wear a mask concealing his true identity. He may feel as though he’s standing in the middle of a crowding room screaming, and yet no one can hear him. It may not be because they’re ignoring his screams; it may just be that he is not allowing them to hear him.
This lyric poem creates a type of sullen mood in the reader’s mind. The man’s struggle is something that can be related indirectly or directly to each reader’s own personal experiences in life. In a way, all people put on a sort of act when they’re around others. Experiences one has gone through helps to shape who a person is and how others perceive that person. The word “cold” could be used to symbolize the man’s heart and attitude towards others. The line “Nobody heard him, the dead man, But still he lay moaning,” allows the reader to hear in his own mind, the moans of this man in need of help and creates the chilling realization that there is no one else who can hear the dying man’s cries. He has come to a point in his life where there is no turning back. The varying points of view from first person “I” to third person “He,” helps bring power to the poem. The first and third stanzas are in first person. This allows the reader to feel what the man is feeling. It almost makes you feel as though you are this man, struggling for people to see your pain. The second stanza is in third person, allowing the reader to feel as though he is one of the people this man has, for so long, put on an act around. Its almost as though you’re looking down, watching this man’s life unfold before you.
Adrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” is a lyric poem that portrays a woman who is knitting a quilt. The quilt is composed of fearless tigers that are unafraid of men walking beneath the trees. These tigers symbolize the youth and bravery in which Aunt Jennifer wishes she possessed.
In “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers,” we are presented with a character who is stifled by her environment. As she embroiders, the needle is “hard to pull” because of the “massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band.” The wedding ring, usually considered as desirable and a symbol of happiness, becomes an object that acts as shackles, holding Aunt Jennifer back from the life she so desires. Even with the overwhelming “weight” of her own life, Aunt Jennifer is able to find emotional release in her art. Through her artistic creations, she imagines what it would be like to experience freedom. She creates “bright topaz” images of tigers which “do not fear the men beneath the tree”. The bright colors, used by Aunt Jennifer, symbolize the opposite as to how she views her own life. She sees her life as being dark and gloomy, and by using bright colors in her quilt, she further exposes how she wishes her life could have been. After her death, “still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by,” her artistic creations live on, “prancing, proud and unafraid.” The greatness of her art outlives the sorrow of her individual existence.
Adrienne Rich has created a tone of bitterness and sorrow. She uses anthropomorphism in the line, “they pace in sleek chivalric certainty.” The way in which she describes the tigers, is the way one might describe a knight attacking a dragon. Aunt Jennifer’s hands, after she dead, are used to represent her life of hard work. Her death has allowed her the freeness she has always wanted. “Bright topaz denizens of a world of green,” acts as a symbol for the trees. There is a great deal of alliteration in this poem. For example, screen and green, wool and pull, band and hand, lie and by. The purpose of this alliteration is that it helps pull the poem together and helps to create the mood of the poem.
“Not Waving but Drowning” and “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” are similar in that both characters in the poems wish their lives were different. In “Not Waving but Drowning” the “dead man” speaks to tell us that he was “not waving but drowning.” People misinterpreted him as being happy, but in actuality, he felt alone and trapped. “It was too cold for him…” and the loneness eventually became too much for him to handle. When he needed help; no one was there to provide it because they were unaware of the struggle he was enduring. People thought that he was “waving” (trying to get attention) when he was actually drowning. Aunt Jennifer also felt alone and trapped in her life. The “weight of Uncle’s wedding band,” symbolized that she felt like a prisoner, unable to move forward and reach her life’s aspirations. Her life was spent living in the shadows of others. Together these poems contain a universal theme; “Life is what you make of it.”
