[1] The most famous of Smith's poems,[2] it gives an account of a drowned man, whose distant movements in the water had been mistaken for waving.
The poem's personal significance has been the topic of several pieces of literary criticism, because Smith was treated for psychological problems.
In line five, the poem suggests that the man who has died "always loved larking," which causes his distress signals to be discounted.
[2] The image that Smith attached to the poem shows the form of a girl from the waist up, with her wet hair hanging over her face.
[6] Severin suggests that the figure might be Mary, a character in another poem by Smith titled "Cool as a Cucumber".