Stevie Smith

Marissa Puzino ENGL 011 33 Dr. Kayorie April 3, 12 The Journey of Death, state of warfare and Neglect All poetry has to do is make believe a strong communication (Stevie metalworker) Florence Margaret smith also cognise as Stevie smith was a kn sustain English poet and novelist that lived form 1902 to her tragic death in 1971. Throughout her life smith went done a lot of heartache with her family and especi bothy within herself. When Stevie smith became acquainted with the face of death, she was fascinated by the wo emotions of depression she began to feel.As a result, smith utilized her emotions relating to neglect, death, and war in much of her writing. Stevie Smith was best known for her poem not Waving But Drowning, which is most neglect. In this poem she portrays the speaker as ad grow goodbye to his so called friends, and welcoming death. She praises grief and sorrow in her poem enjoyment. Here she states that all rapture has been inexistent in her life. warfare was another prominent theme in her writing. Much of her writing was drawn from her own life experiences plainly various work of literature was influenced by war, the middle class British life, and religion.Her poem, I Remember, was a war themed poem intimately an elderly gentlemans gentleman having flashbacks on the Second World War on his bridal night. Stevie Smith eloquently channeled her emotions from her troubling life experiences of death, neglect, and war, into moving works of literature. Florence Margaret Stevie Smith was natural in 1902 in Hull, England (Biography of Stevie Smith, Poem Hunter). At the age of three, after her father left the family to join the magnetic north Sea Patrol, she moved to Palmers Green with her Mother and her babe Molly (Spalding 3).During her teenage years her mother passed away, passing her and her sister to live with their Aunt also referred to as The Lion (Stevie Smith, The Academy of American Poets). After aid high school she went to North London Collegiate School for Girls where she began as a secretary with the clip publisher George Newnes. She continued to become the private secretary to Sir Nevill Pearson and Sir Frank Newnes. Her first book, Novel On scandalmongering Paper, was published in 1936, which was near the uneasy feelings of World War I. Stevie Smith passed away in 1971, resulting from a brain tumor.Stevie Smiths life was filled with death and grief beginning at age five and lasting until her death in 1971. At the age of five Stevie Smith was diagnosed with Tuberculous peritoneal inflammation (Barbara, and Mcbrien 23). After developing this dis moderation she was sent to a sanatorium near Broadstairs. Smith had a very(prenominal) close relationship with her mother. Being away from home and her mother for such(prenominal) a long arrest of time caused her to experience much stress and anxiety. Smiths mother died of heart disease when she was cardinal years old, which was a very traumatic experie nce for Stevie Smith.Even fifty years later during an interview Smith burst into tears when asked a question near her mothers passing (Huk 39). Unfortunately, she became preoccupied with the idea of death. Smith vox populi that if she forced death upon herself, her misery would end. Realizing that she hadnt died and life would continue another day only keep up her thoughts of death, eventually leading her into depression (Barbara, and Mcbrien 25). Being compelled by thoughts of death and grief, Smith frequently incorporated those themes in her poems.In one of Stevie Smiths interviews she states, They are written from the experiences, of my own life, its pressures and fancies, and they are written to give ease and relief to me (Spalding 197). Smith implies that she writes her poems not only for the enjoyment of her readers, but as a way of head with her own emotions and feelings. Writing well-nigh her sorrows gave her inspiration to continue on and face her troubles. She writes m ore often about her struggles than her happiness, which is shown in her poem Happiness. In the poem Happiness, Stevie Smith describes happiness as quiet and nonexistent when she writes, Happiness is silent, or speaks equivocally for friends (ln 1). All of Smiths life was filled with misery. This poem is about how she neer knew the feeling of happiness. She was unaware of how to find happiness because of all the negative experiences in her life that led to such despairing thoughts and emotions. Grief is explicit and her song never ends (ln 3). Smith indicates that she has known this feeling since she was a youthfulness girl, which, continued throughout her life.Undergoing these difficult times throughout her life led Stevie Smith to develop a negative view of the world, which she exemplified in her poetry. Stevie Smiths father owned his own business as a shipping agent. When she was three years old his business, as well as her parents marriage, was unsuccessful (Huk 23). As a resul t, Smiths father left home and ran away to sea becoming a ships purser. She rarely saw her father and when he visited she would often ignore him. She resented the fact that he left and deserted their family.Stevie Smith and her sister never forgave him and even refused to attend his funeral in 1949. Additionally, Smiths Aunt directed negativity in her life. After Smiths mother passed away, Smith and her sister lived with their Aunt. When Stevie Smith started to write her Aunt dismissed her works, calling them as unnecessary. Stevie portrays her feelings of neglect in her famous poem, not Waving But Drowning. This poem is about a man who is stranded out at sea. As he is thrashing in the seas, he is hard-pressed attempt to get the attention from the bystanders on shore.They presuppose he is waving Hello, when he is actually attempting to get their attention. Nobody heard him, the dead man (ln 1). The people on shore can be seen as Smiths Father and Aunt, eon Stevie Smith is the m an stranded at sea. They both neglected and ignored Stevie, either by abandoning her family or insulting her work. Oh, no no no, it was too cold always (ln 9). This line indicates the loneliness of Smiths life due to the constant feeling of rejection, from the fleeing of her father and her Aunt doubting her writing capabilities. Stevie Smith grew up during both World War I and World War II (Severin 49).After World War II Smith believed that women suffered in handed-down marriages because they often experienced loss of their independence and energy. In her poem I Remember the speaker is an elderly man. He is with his bride on their wedding night while having flashbacks of the World War II. Harry, do they ever collide? I do not think it has ever happened (ln 7 and 8). Smith is pointing out the disappointment of women returning to their traditional gender roles during the post war periods. When the woman asks about the planes colliding, Stevie Smith is referring to the gender roles of men and woman.She is asking if the roles of women and men overlap? She also indicates that these women will inevitably return to their pre-war traditional role as a submissive woman and essentially return to being unhappy. Stevie Smith has approach various negative experiences and emotions from a very early age. Stevie Smith often wrote about death, neglect and war as shown in three of her poems, Happiness, Not Waving But Drowning, and I Remember. Being presented with a inveterate disease, abandonment, death, and feelings of neglect, contributed to Stevie Smiths negative view of the world.However, Smith found hope and relief from her depressive mind through the means of writing poetry. Smith wrote not only for the enjoyment of her readers, but more importantly to look at with her adverse life experiences. She used writing as a way to ease of the pain of these events. Stevie Smith blended real life experiences with events that happened around the world to create her moving works of literature. Works Cited Barbera, Jack, and William McBrien. Stevie A Biography of Stevie Smith. London Heinemann, 1985. Print. Biography of Stevie Smith. Poem Hunter. Web. 8 Apr. 2012. lthttp//www. poemhunter. com/stevie-smith/biography/. Happiness. Best Poems. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. . This poem by Stevie Smith compares happiness and grief. This is a short poem, completed in one stanza. Smith expresses happiness as a quiet, illusionary emotion instead of loud and exciting. She explains that happiness is silent, misleading and deceptive. She describes grief as precise, straightforward and different happiness, swift without delay. I Remember. Best Poems. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. . This poem written by the famous English poet and novelist, Stevie Smith is about a war veteran who is having flashbacks of World War ll. An elderly man is the speaker talking about his experiences in the war on the night of his wedding. His bride was a young woman who had tuberculosis and was asking him questio ns about the war. It seemed that she was asking the questions because she was slipping away and will soon pass. Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz, and Samuel Cohen, eds. Literature The Human Experience. 10th ed.New York Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Print. The poem Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith told in the third person. It is about a man who is distressed and neglected by his friends. He is trying to gain their attention by waving his hands but the people at shore think he is just waving hello. This poem can be interpreted both metaphorically and literally. In the literal sense he was waving his hands trying to get attention and form the people on shore it looks like hes construction hi. In the metaphorical sense, the man suffered from being ignored and neglected by his friends.Huk, Romana. Stevie Smith Between the Lines. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print. In this book Romana Huk expresses the different contributions that Stevie Smith has made to feminist literary modernism. Huk describes how Smith encouraged womens studies by examining the past and rewriting them in modern times. This book offers a new approach to go about analyzing Smiths works by analyzing certain poems and novels that were either forgotten about or written long ago. Severin, Laura. Stevie Smiths Resistant Antics.Madison, WI University of Wisconsin, 1997. Print. This book analyzes the relationship amongst Stevie Smiths writing and illustrations and twentieth ascorbic acid historical events. She uses all the works of Stevie Smith to join the idea of femininity and the conservative period f World War ll. Severin gives reasons for cultural historians and feminists to appreciate the works of Smith in a sense where all of her poems, novels and illustrations are taken from events that happened around the world. Spalding, Frances. Stevie Smith A Biography. New York W. W. Norton , 1989. Print.This book examines the relationship between Steve Smiths life and her writing, including both her novels and poems. Frances Spalding focuses on Smiths narrative and distinct style. She looks at the connections between Smiths devastating life and her works. Spalding adds new and original interpretations based on new information. Stevie Smith. verse Archive. Penguin. Web. http//www. poetryarchive. org/poetryarchive/singlePoet. do? poetId=7088. Stevie Smith. The Academy of American Poets. The Academy of American Poets. Web. http//www. poets. org/poet. php/prmPID/283.