The Art of Losing in “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop Essay

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Art in its various forms often becomes a leading theme in the works of different authors. The latter do not stop investigating the mysteries of this human skill to produce an aesthetic result. The poem of Elizabeth Bishop titled One Art is also concerned with this problem. But it focuses on a rather peculiar art form that the author herself invents. The poem is concerned with “the art of losing” (Bishop Line 1). The concept of loss is examined by the author through different perspectives and is shadowed by the pain and sadness that she experiences.

The main claim that Bishop makes is that “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” (Line 1). What strikes the reader at once is that losing something is considered art by the author. And like any other art, it needs to be mastered by the one engaged in it. Contrary to the author’s statement about the art of loss that she repeats in four stanzas out of six the point of the poem is that the art of losing is hard to deal with, but as one commonly faces this problem he or she becomes more and more proficient in it.

The line “the art of losing’s not hard to master” that is often repeated by Bishop makes the reader think of her losses. At the beginning of the poem, the author is rather careless about losing objects. She argues that losing is not a big deal and is a too trivial thing to pay much attention to. But as the poem goes on, Bishop realizes that she had lost so much. Though she does not speak directly of the effects that the loss has on her and even claims that “it wasn’t a disaster” the reader feels that it does affect the author as well as everyone on Earth (Lines 13-15). What contributes to this understanding is the author’s use of hyperboles. Bishop says that she has “lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.” (Lines 13, 14) Though no concrete object is mentioned by the author one understands that the loss is very significant to her.

The stanza that comes after this one contains another repetition of the line that one meets throughout the poem. But in this case, the reader observes the shift in the author’s attitude to the problem. Here she adds “too” to admit that she is rather ironic for herself in her loss. The author seems to convince everyone starting with herself that losing things or people is not hard and one can easily adjust to it. What is more, the experience of loss, as the author suggests, is commonly practiced grows into art that one can perfect every time. The author even resorts to the biblical “Write it!” (Line 19) that draws the reader’s attention to her claim and means to remember, not to forget. Still, we are inclined to think that the author fails to convince both herself and the reader of the unimportance of losing things in one’s life.

Several peculiarities of the author’s style deserve special attention from the reader. The losses described in lines 1-15 are mostly trivial and are not important that much for the author. But as the poem develops the author speaks of some great loss which might even be the loss of a beloved person (lines 16-19). The author’s consideration of the losses in terms of the increase of their importance suggests that no experience of losing trivial things can prepare one for the loss of a person.

The author uses different persons in her poem. The first three stanzas are told in the second person. The author’s appeal to “lose something every day” (Line 4) sounds like a command to practice the art of losing things. The next three lines use the first-person narration. If at the beginning of the poem the author explains her views on the problem, in the next three stanzas she justifies them by giving examples from her life. The poem is thus made more subjective but encourages the reader to define one’s position as far as the problem is concerned.

We suppose that in this encouraging the reader to reconsider one’s attitude to losing things the main value of the poem is rooted. Though one can learn how to have control over losing, the loss will not become less painful because of this. What can be launched not to suffer is to do one’s best not to lose the things so precious for one’s happiness and life as a whole.

Works Cited

Beiderwell, Bruce & Wheeler, Jeffrey M. The Literary Experience. Heinle, 2007.

Bishop, Elizabeth. Web.

Troyka, Lynn Q. & Hesse Doug. Quick Access, Reference for Writers. Prentice Hall, 2006.

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