Not Waving but Drowning

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning;
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

No, no, no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
- Stevie Smith
Looking at the structure of this poem, how some of the lines are longer then others reminded me of how someone looks when they are drowning, they are continuously bobbing up and down but as they get closer to death and as the air leaves their lungs they slowly stop bobbing. I dont know if Smith planned her poem to demonstrate this. I feel that this poem is about someone crying out for his friends and family to help him but they only see what they want to see and so he feels lost and sufficated like hes drowning in his own sorrow his own fear his own guilt all alone with no ones help.