Poem

This poem maintains a form using meter, instead of free verse- which illustrates how Bishops statements are made under “tight control”, as if she is trying to maintain her composure over the death of a loved one.

She uses a complex rhyme scheme, which suggests she is using unbending customs to refer to an unbending custom of losing.

The title “One Art” - coping with loss is an art. This term has several connotations that modify the tenor of managing grief. An art requires intense effort on the part of the artist. Then, too, is the fact that the end result of creating art is a piece of artwork. Artwork is most notable for the fact that it goes on display, for other people. In the same way, coping with loss requires much work for the sake of producing an exterior equanimity, a work of art in its own way, made for others to view.

The Structure- This calm veneer is shown by other devices to be imperfect. A notable example of this is the trope upon the magnitude of loss Bishop includes. As the poem progresses, the things Bishop loses gradually become more important. Although she begins with the loss of "door keys"(Line 5), she quickly begins to "practice losing farther losing faster."(Line 7) She mentions that she lost a name, then a house, then two cities, and finally an entire continent. Each item is more important than the last, a greater loss than the previous one. This culminates with the death of her friend, and by extrapolation we see that he is the most important of all. Thus, while Bishop writes of his loss as inconsequential, the structure of her poem implies that it is much more.

Bishop's use of punctuation also serves to illuminate the cracks in her composure. The first stanza flows very well, with one natural break. As the stanzas progress, however, Bishop begins using breaks much more often. In the fifth stanza, Bishop uses commas and periods to break the flow of the poem eight times. The end result is that she appears to be losing control. Meter does not flow as well; feet, such as "ones. And"(Line13) are broken by punctuation. Her thoughts seem less organized; she begins to use sentence fragments. Bishop seems unable to maintain the faÐ"§ade of tranquility that she began with.

Bishop repeats two lines several times. She states that "The art of losing isn't hard master"(Lines 1, 5, 12) four times, as she does the fact that each loss has not ended in "disaster." These lines become much like a mantra that she states after mentioning each loss. Bishop constantly reminds herself that she has survived loss before, that she is capable of moving on. As she seems to begin to break down, she says one of these lines in order to regain control, and moves on.

Bishop uses other means to prevent grief from overtaking her as well. She reminds herself that "so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost."(Line 2) Everyone has the intent to