Lifesaver (poem)

"Lifesaver" (1931) is a poem by Australian poet Elizabeth Riddell.

[1] It was originally published in The Bulletin on 4 March 1931,[2] as by "Elizabeth Richmond", and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies.

[1] The poem depicts the death of a youth from drowning on an Australian beach as he is returned to shore by lifesavers.

While reviewing the author's poetry collection Poems in 1948 a Bulletin reviewer noted: "The distinguishing qualities of Elizabeth Riddell's Poems (Ure Smith Pty.

Ltd.) are a rich and colorful imagery and the sparkle of epigram...It is with some surprise that one realises, among the tropic landscapes or in the sunlight of wit, that almost all the poems are concerned, one way or another, with death.