Stevie Smith Poems

Florence Margaret Smith, who later came to be known as Stevie Smith, was an English novelist born in 1902. She published several collections of prose as well as numerous volumes of verse. Her poetry has been praised for its song-like quality. Her most famous poem is ‘Not Waving But Drowning.’ Read more of Stevie Smith’s Biography.

Parrot

by Stevie Smith

‘Parrot’ is a moving exploration of imprisonment and suffering set against the backdrop of the modern, urban world.

'Parrot' displays Smith's iconic, direct style and her interest in issues of mortality.

The old sick green parrot

High in a dingy cage

Sick with malevolent rage

Beadily glutted his furious eye

Not Waving But Drowning

by Stevie Smith

‘Not Waving But Drowning’ by Stevie Smith describes the emotional situation of a speaker whose true tribulations go unnoticed by all those around her. 

Nobody heard him, the dead man,

But still he lay moaning:

I was much further out than you thought

And not waving but drowning.

Pad, Pad

by Stevie Smith

‘Pad, Pad’ is written by the English poet Florence Margaret Smith, also known as Stevie Smith. This poem deals with the separation of two lovers and how the speaker feels long after the break-up.