Unfoldingone art
Unfoldingone artAfter quick scan of the poem "One Art", the reader should recognize the poem as having the closed form. The poem is regular, symmetrical, and falls into stanzas. The first five stanzas have three lines and the last stanza contains four lines. A longer peruse of "One Art" will help the reader identify the villanelle form. The first line of the poem is repeated in the 2nd, 4th and 6th stanzas, while the last word of the first stanza (3rd line) is repeated in the 3rd, 5th, and 6th stanzas. The poem appears to have the powerful music effect that is usually associated with a villanelle. The poem hints at being autobiographical after reading about Elizabeth Bishop's life in the "Lives of the Poets" section of the text- Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. The personal voice also hints at the poem being autobiographical. Further analysis of the poem and Bishop's life leads to the discovery of confessional poetry.
Researching The Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia tells us that Elizabeth Bishop's works will usually "highlight the sense of strangeness that can underlay ordinary events"("Elizabeth Bishop"). The text (Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama) makes reference to Bishop's use of metaphor. Elizabeth Bishop refers to losing as an art. The American Heritage Talking Dictionary defines art as a skill that is practiced ("art"). "One Art" makes specific reference to practicing losing (line 7). Loss is defined as a condition of being deprived or bereaved of something or someone ("loss"). Loss is not something done intentionally (such as the word "practice" might suggest) but it is something that is inherent to humans. Perhaps Bishop uses the metaphor of "loss being an art" to confess the different types of loss in her life.
In the first six lines, the poem refers to losing small things. The purpose of some small items is to be lost. With the second and third lines: "so many things seem filled with the intent/ to be lost"(lines 2/3), the reader can quickly make a mental note of small items that have been lost. For example, the reader could have lost marbles or doll clothes as a child. Line four makes the simple statement: "Lose something everyday." It is not hard to lose or misplace something, which line six: "The art of losing isn't hard to master." suggests. People misplace or lose possessions, such as keys, all the time. "Accept the fluster/of lost door keys, the hour badly spent"(lines 5/6) tells the reader to accept small losses, such as keys, and the time spent looking for them. After all, losing things is not hard to do (line 6). These losses...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.