Not Waving but Drowning

The poem is an example of free verse. As the name implies, the poem is free of a rigid meter. Each line can have as many feet—pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables—as Smith wants. The poem can also be free of rhyme, yet Smith includes a rhyme scheme, with the second and fourth lines in each stanza rhyming. The stanzas all contain four lines (quatrains). The lines in Stanzas 1 and 3 tend to be even and have a tidy look. The lines in Stanza 2 vary in length and take on a disorderly appearance, with Line 7 jutting out and Line 8 containing only two words.

The form of the stanzas arguably adds another angle to the poem. The dead man, although drowning, has a grasp. His composed stanzas indicate that he understands what has happened to him. The other people occupy Stanza 2, and the messy line lengths suggest they do not have a carefully-considered idea about what the man is (or was) experiencing.

The uneven number of stanzas reinforces the futility of communication. It feels as if there should be a fourth stanza.