One Art Analysis Essay

Art of Losing This poem, “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop, dramatizes the conflict between one’s inner feelings and what they actually say. The poem begins in the speaker’s past, sorting through memories, then arrives in the present, addressing their self saying “It’s evident / the art of losing’s not too hard to master / though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster” (17-19). The speaker’s use of tone, repetition, and rhyme shows the speaker’s change of attitude. In the beginning, the speaker’s tone is removed and dismissive. Though she acknowledges the losses, the raw emotion is missing. “I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster” (15), shows the speaker’s nonchalant attitude about these losses. The first five stanzas are in the same 3 line format. It is a standard format, which is a way for the speaker to show the reader that the losses are standard, too. Repetition can be found throughout “One Art”. The line “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” (6, 12, 18), is repeated throughout the poem. It is first said in the second stanza talking about the loss of door keys. In the last stanza, the line is repeated one last time with the addition of one word— too. This makes the line become “The art of losing isn’t too hard to master” (18). It is one of many things in the last stanza that changes to show the significance of that
The rhyme scheme is ABA, until the last stanza. “Master”(1) and “disaster”(3) were specifically chosen to rhyme together. Master and disaster were also repeated in almost every stanza. This was to show the relationship between trying to master coping with the loss of something, and also show the lack of devastation or disaster the loss caused. The rhyme scheme changes in the last stanza to show the significance of the speaker’s last loss. It changes to ABCC. Master and disaster still end, but their meaning has changed to show the raw emotion the reader was looking for the entire