Stevie Smith
Marissa Puzino
ENGL 011: 33
Dr. Kayorie
April 3, 12
The Journey of Death, War and Neglect
“All poetry has to do is make a strong communication” (Stevie Smith)
Florence Margaret Smith also known as Stevie Smith was a famous English poet and novelist that lived form 1902 to her tragic death in 1971. Throughout her life Smith went through a lot of heartache with her family and especially within herself. When Stevie Smith became acquainted with the face of death, she was fascinated by the melancholy 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 about neglect. In this poem she portrays the speaker as saying “goodbye” to his so called friends, and welcoming death. She praises grief and sorrow in her poem “Happiness.” Here she states that all happiness has been inexistent in her life. War was another prominent theme in her writing. Much of her writing was drawn from her own life experiences but various work of literature was influenced by war, the middle class British life, and religion. Her poem, “I Remember,” was a war themed poem about an elderly man 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 born 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 North Sea Patrol, she moved to Palmers Green with her Mother and her sister Molly (Spalding 3). During her teenage years her mother passed away, leaving her and her sister to live with their Aunt also referred to as “The Lion” (Stevie Smith, The Academy of American Poets). After attending high school she went to North London Collegiate School for Girls
ENGL 011: 33
Dr. Kayorie
April 3, 12
The Journey of Death, War and Neglect
“All poetry has to do is make a strong communication” (Stevie Smith)
Florence Margaret Smith also known as Stevie Smith was a famous English poet and novelist that lived form 1902 to her tragic death in 1971. Throughout her life Smith went through a lot of heartache with her family and especially within herself. When Stevie Smith became acquainted with the face of death, she was fascinated by the melancholy 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 about neglect. In this poem she portrays the speaker as saying “goodbye” to his so called friends, and welcoming death. She praises grief and sorrow in her poem “Happiness.” Here she states that all happiness has been inexistent in her life. War was another prominent theme in her writing. Much of her writing was drawn from her own life experiences but various work of literature was influenced by war, the middle class British life, and religion. Her poem, “I Remember,” was a war themed poem about an elderly man 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 born 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 North Sea Patrol, she moved to Palmers Green with her Mother and her sister Molly (Spalding 3). During her teenage years her mother passed away, leaving her and her sister to live with their Aunt also referred to as “The Lion” (Stevie Smith, The Academy of American Poets). After attending high school she went to North London Collegiate School for Girls
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. <http://www.poemhunter.com/stevie-smith/biography/>. "Happiness." Best Poems. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.best-poems.net/stevie_smith/poem-18829.html>. "I Remember." Best Poems. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.best-poems.net/stevie_smith/poem-18839.html>. Abcarian, Richard, Marvin Klotz, and Samuel Cohen, eds. Literature: The Human Experience. 10th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. Print. Huk, Romana. Stevie Smith: Between the Lines. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print. Severin, Laura. Stevie Smith 's Resistant Antics. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, 1997. Print.