Poetry Analysis Essay on One Art

Introduction

The poem "One Art" employs simple and elegant verse to achieve its purpose and to pass the message of loss. The poem is about how people feel when they lose things and the effect of the loss thereafter. The main argument is that people learn the art of losing by practicing on smaller things, eventually lose of bigger things becomes bearable. The poetic element particularly the rhythm helps in the formation of the theme.

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Bishop poem use symbolism and peculiar description to form a theme of the piece and this makes the poem deal with loss. "The art of losing isn't hard to master, / so many things seems filled with their intent, / to be lost that their loss is no disaster." This language is unique and modern and the result is that the poem give the impression of comprehensive advice from someone with life experience and can be believed. The choice of words are simple for anyone to comprehend and to pass the idea about loss. The poem lack similes and metaphors and this makes her voice heard by women who have a challenge of loss.

The rhythm of the poem is an important element because it brings the flow of words. Each line has some level of rhythm brought by the use of words which rhyme at the end of the line or by use of word which make up unstressed and stressed syllables. For instance, in the fifth stanza, "I lost two cities, lovely ones, And, vaster,/ Some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent/ I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster." The words disaster and vaster construct a rhythm which assists the poem flow, and the poet uses employs similar word choice all through the poem: "fluster and master, disaster, and master, last or and master". Rhyme is central in reciting the poem.

There are a number of literary devices used in this poem to show how she is affected. The style of the poem, its syntax, and diction add to show the fallaciousness of the performance. Throughout the poem, the loss is considered trivial. Considering line 4 "lose something every day" and line 5 "lost door keys, the hour badly spent," are losses equated to a loss of a friend. On the matter of death in line 16-18, she states "Even losing you...I shan't have lied. It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master." These words by Bishop bring an image of confidence and indifference in the midst of loss.

The theme of loss is also presented in the heading of the poem, "One Art." It is apparent that surviving with loss is a skill. The phrase has different implications which change the tenors of dealing with grief. It is true that art needs effort. The artwork is notable because of the aspect of display that is made for other people. Similarly, deal with loss need work for the sake of producing outer levelheadedness, made for stranger to see.

The calm veneer is shown to be flawed. As the poem develops, the things the poet loses become less trivial. Even if at the start, according to line 5, its loss of "door keys", she starts "practice losing farther losing faster." She loses the name, a house, two cities, and continent. From this list, each item is important than the last. This end with the death of a friend and by extension, he is the best of all. To this end, while the chain of loss seems insignificant, the end of the poem show otherwise.

The poem use repetition of two line. It is stated in line 1, 5 and 12 that "The art of losing isn't hard master" as an indication each defeat does not ended in "tragedy." These lines act like mantra which are stated when a loss met. She seemingly reminds herself that she has weathered losses before, so one more blow won't get her down. When she started to wear out, she says these lines to renew her strength. The poet uses other ways to control grief. She says to herself in line 2 "so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost." Despite all this, she admits her sorrow later in the last stanza. This stanza is a shift from the rest. This part of the poem is actually written to anyone.

According to line 5, it addresses "You" and this choice of hearer of message shows admittance to grief. The poet states in line 14 that loss her loss is indeed incomparable to "lost door keys." The climax of all this drama is in line 19 where she seemingly reprimands herself to "Write it!" she is unable to bear the pressure and she lacks option other than letting it go. Having endured the pain of loss, kept her composure, she is unwilling to use the same approach in writing. The poet needs an outlet for the pain, and while it all started with wearing a mask in public, it ends with the admittance of grief. The point of view of the poet is that loss is complex yet simple. It can be art which one cannot afford to escape, people should embrace it and learn how to deal with it as a coping mechanism.

Works Cited

Bishop, Elizabeth. One Art: Letters. Farrar, Straus and Giroux,2015.