In the poem “Not Waving but Drowning,” there appears to be three speakers including the narrator, the man drowning, and the family and friends of the man. Each of the speakers play a significant role in the poem. The first speaker, the narrator, appears in lines one, two, and seven. The readers do not know much about the narrator. The narrator is an omniscient person who can hear the dead man, family, and friends. Although, line one states, “Nobody heard him.” The next speaker that appears in the poem is the dead man. While in the poem it states he is dead; however, he is continuing to moan. The readers may interpret this as his last chance at crying for help. The last speaker in the poem is the family and friends of the man drowning. They are mourning and looking back upon the dead mans life stating, “...he always loved larking.” The family speaks about how the dead man could have passed due to a natural cause, ignoring the fact that it may not have been an accident. The three speakers work together to tie the whole poem together. The subject of this poem is mental health. Throughout the poem, the man can be perceived as depressed, isolated, and misinterpreted. The man who is drowning can be seen as depressed. In the poem, Stevie Smith states, “I was much further out than you thought.” In this quote, the man is showing that he was more lonely and depressed than people thought. The subject can also be interpreted as isolation. The man was lonely which explains why he was far out, away from everyone. Feeling isolated in this poem added to the drowning mans mental instability. Everyone around the man misinterpreted him. In the poem it states, “...he always loved larking.” This was not true because he was suffering from a mental health problem. People thought he was happier than he was in reality. The subject of this poem was mental instability due to the man reaching out for help he did not receive. Stevie Smith does