"One Art" Analysis
In her poem, "One Art," Elizabeth Bishop constructs a poem that reveals a struggle with mastering the issue of loss. Through the use of a villanelle, Bishop utilizes the significance of structure and word choice to further the meaning of her work. Bishop crescendos each stanza to create a firm foundation for the dramatic conclusion, and incorporates expressive words throughout the poem to illuminate the last stanza's attitude shift from that of carelessness to seriousness.
The villanelle form is a type of love poem and Elizabeth Bishop's use of this is appropriate for her poem about lost love. The first five tercets (three lined stanzas) begin by speaking of small objects (keys) then grow to large items (continents). The final stanza is a quatrain (four lined stanza) that contains the occasion and attitude shift of the poem. The poem's first line "the art of losing isn't hard to master" resurfaces throughout the text to reiterate the speaker's opinion on the mastery of loss. And the repetition of the third line's final word "disaster" is a key to the meaning of the poem.
Bishop's word choice furthers the significance of loss and love throughout the poem. Since the first and third lines repeat within the text the middle lines of each stanza remain different from each other. The endings of each middle line have the same rhyme pattern and collectively they spell out an ultimate loss-" intent"/ "spent"/ "meant"/ and "went." The speaker, in the beginning, is impersonal and does not mention any valuable item which was lost. In the second stanza the speaker explains how to master the art of loss, and urges the readers to practice, making it a habit: "Lose something every day (line 4)." The "lost door keys, the hour badly spent (line 5)" become materialistic entities and lost time. The third stanza contains a dynamic list of uncontrollable loss. By choosing the phrase "losing farther, losing faster (line 7)," Bishop illustrates movement in time, ultimately symbolizing
The villanelle form is a type of love poem and Elizabeth Bishop's use of this is appropriate for her poem about lost love. The first five tercets (three lined stanzas) begin by speaking of small objects (keys) then grow to large items (continents). The final stanza is a quatrain (four lined stanza) that contains the occasion and attitude shift of the poem. The poem's first line "the art of losing isn't hard to master" resurfaces throughout the text to reiterate the speaker's opinion on the mastery of loss. And the repetition of the third line's final word "disaster" is a key to the meaning of the poem.
Bishop's word choice furthers the significance of loss and love throughout the poem. Since the first and third lines repeat within the text the middle lines of each stanza remain different from each other. The endings of each middle line have the same rhyme pattern and collectively they spell out an ultimate loss-" intent"/ "spent"/ "meant"/ and "went." The speaker, in the beginning, is impersonal and does not mention any valuable item which was lost. In the second stanza the speaker explains how to master the art of loss, and urges the readers to practice, making it a habit: "Lose something every day (line 4)." The "lost door keys, the hour badly spent (line 5)" become materialistic entities and lost time. The third stanza contains a dynamic list of uncontrollable loss. By choosing the phrase "losing farther, losing faster (line 7)," Bishop illustrates movement in time, ultimately symbolizing