One Art
In Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art", the poet's struggle with the persistency and consistency of her message that loss can yield to mastery echoes throughout the poem. This is evident as the poet attempts to demonstrate to the reader that she, herself, has done so, by means of her writing through an indecisive tone, specific things of loss, and disguised poetic control.
Throughout the poem, one may notice the poet's struggle in expressing herself-it is almost as if she is trying to say two things at once, even implying the opposite with precise manipulation of vernacular. The tone of the poem evades the truth of the argument that the form of the poem (which will be discussed later on in the essay) establishes. Each stanza is bathed in irony-"The art of losing isn't hard to master", the refrain line of this poem is a very important one in depicting its first ironic indication. This poem is not about art, but about the "art of losing", an acquired and accomplished skill that results from countless hours of practice. The line's irony holds its ground by revealing that losing is an art. Indeed, it is ironic to see how a frustrating and annoying part of life can be considered an art. The tone also changes within each of the stanzas. In the first stanza, Bishop speaks in tones of the survivor, someone who has gone through an event and has lived to tell the reader that she has seen these things "with the intent to be lost" and can conclude from them "that their loss is no disaster". The second stanza encompasses a more instructional quality. The survivor-poet now advises the reader to "lose something every day." By sounding instructional, the poet assures the reader that "the art of losing isn't hard to master" if he/she would simply "accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent". Follow these simple guidelines, and the reader can, too, master the art of losing. Instantly, the third stanza intensifies the lesson with a simple shift to "then". A progressively forceful agenda of loss is planned when the poet instructs to "practice losing farther, losing faster", but this time losing "places, and names, and where it was you meant/to travel..." By using "I", the tone changes once more-it is now the poet who speaks from her own experiences and shares them with the reader-and her writing is now personalized and humanized. Through personalization, the reader can catch a glimpse into the poet's thoughts and emotions-but only a glimpse at first, due to Bishop's efforts to disguise her true feelings throughout the poem. Denying the difficulty of losing is quite evident throughout the poem. The use of colloquial speech seems to silence the emotional intensity the poem tries to keep undercover. The ABA rhyme scheme appeals to the ear and sounds jovial, consequently lessening the seriousness on the topic of her true feelings. Denial begins in the fourth stanza as the Bishop refers to her lost properties as "beloved"-displaying a fondness she had for those things in her life that she lost, slowly revealing her emotions. Her use of adjectives gradually discloses more emotion as the poem progresses with two "lovely" cities. "I miss them" is the next emotional step the poet reveals about herself, yet she is quick to pull out her defence mechanism of denial, "but it wasn't a disaster", just so no one sees her soft side. In the final stanza, the tone has completely changed again, this time it is a tone of breaking down. The "-" pause before the final stanza suggests that the poet needs to take a moment to recompose herself before finishing. After going through so much in the first five stanzas, she needs to take a breath before coming to her final conclusion. Decides to surrender her denial by using "love"--a powerful word, used to demonstrate a love she has for a certain gesture. In the last three lines, "I shan't have lied" reveals that she has indeed been denying this whole time that "the art of losing's not too hard to master/though it may..." The words "too", "though", and "may" are excuses the poet uses to make up for her denial.
In Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art", the poet's struggle with the persistency and consistency of her message that loss can yield to mastery echoes throughout the poem. This is evident as the poet attempts to demonstrate to the reader that she, herself, has done so, by means of her writing through an indecisive tone, specific things of loss, and disguised poetic control.
Throughout the poem, one may notice the poet's struggle in expressing herself-it is almost as if she is trying to say two things at once, even implying the opposite with precise manipulation of vernacular. The tone of the poem evades the truth of the argument that the form of the poem (which will be discussed later on in the essay) establishes. Each stanza is bathed in irony-"The art of losing isn't hard to master", the refrain line of this poem is a very important one in depicting its first ironic indication. This poem is not about art, but about the "art of losing", an acquired and accomplished skill that results from countless hours of practice. The line's irony holds its ground by revealing that losing is an art. Indeed, it is ironic to see how a frustrating and annoying part of life can be considered an art. The tone also changes within each of the stanzas. In the first stanza, Bishop speaks in tones of the survivor, someone who has gone through an event and has lived to tell the reader that she has seen these things "with the intent to be lost" and can conclude from them "that their loss is no disaster". The second stanza encompasses a more instructional quality. The survivor-poet now advises the reader to "lose something every day." By sounding instructional, the poet assures the reader that "the art of losing isn't hard to master" if he/she would simply "accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent". Follow these simple guidelines, and the reader can, too, master the art of losing. Instantly, the third stanza intensifies the lesson with a simple shift to "then". A progressively forceful agenda of loss is planned when the poet instructs to "practice losing farther, losing faster", but this time losing "places, and names, and where it was you meant/to travel..." By using "I", the tone changes once more-it is now the poet who speaks from her own experiences and shares them with the reader-and her writing is now personalized and humanized. Through personalization, the reader can catch a glimpse into the poet's thoughts and emotions-but only a glimpse at first, due to Bishop's efforts to disguise her true feelings throughout the poem. Denying the difficulty of losing is quite evident throughout the poem. The use of colloquial speech seems to silence the emotional intensity the poem tries to keep undercover. The ABA rhyme scheme appeals to the ear and sounds jovial, consequently lessening the seriousness on the topic of her true feelings. Denial begins in the fourth stanza as the Bishop refers to her lost properties as "beloved"-displaying a fondness she had for those things in her life that she lost, slowly revealing her emotions. Her use of adjectives gradually discloses more emotion as the poem progresses with two "lovely" cities. "I miss them" is the next emotional step the poet reveals about herself, yet she is quick to pull out her defence mechanism of denial, "but it wasn't a disaster", just so no one sees her soft side. In the final stanza, the tone has completely changed again, this time it is a tone of breaking down. The "-" pause before the final stanza suggests that the poet needs to take a moment to recompose herself before finishing. After going through so much in the first five stanzas, she needs to take a breath before coming to her final conclusion. Decides to surrender her denial by using "love"--a powerful word, used to demonstrate a love she has for a certain gesture. In the last three lines, "I shan't have lied" reveals that she has indeed been denying this whole time that "the art of losing's not too hard to master/though it may..." The words "too", "though", and "may" are excuses the poet uses to make up for her denial.
