One Art
Grief & Loss in Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art"
Many things in life will be lost; however, some losses are more significant than others. The way that Elizabeth Bishop chose to interpret the intertwined themes of grief and loss in her poem "One Art" illustrates the build-up of emotion as each successive loss grew in importance. By increasing the significance of each loss, Ms. Bishop seems to indicate that one must first become accustomed to accepting life's little losses before trying to conquer the more major losses that will surely occur. The constant refrain "losing isn't hard to master" seems to indicate that there is a certain amount of skill involved in learning to accept loss. By attempting to come to terms with the many rather inconsequential losses that will occur, one will be more prepared to face life's major losses. As the poem "One Art" suggests, small losses can be easier to tolerate, or even ignore, than larger more significant ones. In fact, one should accept the inconvenience and "fluster", and not allow these minor nuisances to affect us in any great way. In fact, many small and rather unimportant things seem to be "filled with the intent of being lost." From "lost door keys, the hour badly spent" to "places, names and where it was you meant to travel", the author implies that one should not only become comfortable with accepting the less important losses, but should somewhat anticipate them. In "One Art", Elizabeth Bishop's urging to "practice losing farther, losing faster" is in effect a call to become a master in the art of loss. By choosing to ignore many of the smaller losses, or at least not give in to the temptation to turn each into a major "disaster", one can learn to recognize which losses truly merit attention and grief and which can be more easily discarded. Throughout her poem, Ms. Bishop's almost casual attitude toward loss seems to indicate that most of
Many things in life will be lost; however, some losses are more significant than others. The way that Elizabeth Bishop chose to interpret the intertwined themes of grief and loss in her poem "One Art" illustrates the build-up of emotion as each successive loss grew in importance. By increasing the significance of each loss, Ms. Bishop seems to indicate that one must first become accustomed to accepting life's little losses before trying to conquer the more major losses that will surely occur. The constant refrain "losing isn't hard to master" seems to indicate that there is a certain amount of skill involved in learning to accept loss. By attempting to come to terms with the many rather inconsequential losses that will occur, one will be more prepared to face life's major losses. As the poem "One Art" suggests, small losses can be easier to tolerate, or even ignore, than larger more significant ones. In fact, one should accept the inconvenience and "fluster", and not allow these minor nuisances to affect us in any great way. In fact, many small and rather unimportant things seem to be "filled with the intent of being lost." From "lost door keys, the hour badly spent" to "places, names and where it was you meant to travel", the author implies that one should not only become comfortable with accepting the less important losses, but should somewhat anticipate them. In "One Art", Elizabeth Bishop's urging to "practice losing farther, losing faster" is in effect a call to become a master in the art of loss. By choosing to ignore many of the smaller losses, or at least not give in to the temptation to turn each into a major "disaster", one can learn to recognize which losses truly merit attention and grief and which can be more easily discarded. Throughout her poem, Ms. Bishop's almost casual attitude toward loss seems to indicate that most of