English 111 - Poetry Paper - one Art by Elizabeth Bishop

Greangela Pizarro

English 111, Poetry Paper

In the poem One Art by Elizabeth Bishop, the author is showing us the idea of accepting and losing things in our lives without feeling like it’s the end of the world or a disaster. The art of losing isn’t hard to master, it’s up to you if it’s a disaster.

The author’s use of repetition of the phrase “ the art of losing isn’t hard to master” to agree with her thoughts in the poem to convince herself that losing becomes easier within time and practice. She begins the poem off with little objects that don't have much meaning to them to lose. Then becomes personal when she uses “ I “ in stanza 4. This poem is part-autobiographical poem, i did some research and Elizabeth Bishop has lost a lot in her life, her father died when she was a baby, and her mother suffered some type of nervous breakdown years later. She then had to move in with some relatives and never saw her mother again, and in the adult years she lost her partner to suicide.

In the first stanza “ so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster “ the speaker is trying to say that certain items inherently want to be lost, and that when they do become lost it’s nothing to be sad about, because it was going to happened in the first place.

In the second stanza the speaker says “ lose something everyday “ as in its bound to happen why not do it on purpose? But who really wants to lose something on a daily basis? Using an item such as keys, that are capable of being lost is nothing to panic about, but you are allowed to be frustrated

In the third stanza the reader is being told to lose something consciously, to practice the art or losing things, such as names, places, and where you was meant to travel, none of those things will bring disaster according to the speaker, you just