Learning and Growing Through Life’s Losses in “One Art”

Learning and Growing Through Life’s Losses in “One Art”
From the instant life begins the understanding that life is a progression of loss becomes apparent. Loss is not something one can control. Loss cannot be manipulated, but only excepted, and somewhat expected, as Elizabeth Bishop validates in her poem "One Art." Bishop's viewpoint of loss causes the reader to delve into a part of their psyche that many are not comfortable with facing. Loss, no matter the magnitude is a hard thing to accept. "One Art" with all its beauty helps the reader to understand the loss. Sometimes loss is a brutal thing, while at other times, it is a thing of great beauty. As with all things in this world, it all depends upon one's perspective.
The nonchalant acceptance of loss, being a constant theme throughout the length of the poem is made apparent in Bishop's repetitive use of the line "The art of losing is not hard to master" (1, 6, 12). The speaker, whose persona appears to the reader to be that of an aged woman with vast amounts of life experience, begins with small meaningless losses and progresses on to losses of greater meaning. Stating, "so many things seem filled with the intent/ to be lost that their loss is no disaster" (2-3) the speaker conveys to the reader the simplicity of loss, and the meaninglessness in which it seems to affect her. The loss being portrayed in the beginning is small in comparison to the loss at the end of the poem. Ultimately leading the reader to the understanding loss is common and comes in multiple ways "Lose something every day. Accept the fluster/ of lost door keys, the hour badly spent" (4-5). Simple daily loses are so common that, in the end, it does not matter much.
Next, the speaker reminds the reader of...

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...with all its beauty helps the reader to understand loss. Sometimes loss is a brutal thing, while, at other times, it is a thing of great beauty. As with all things in this world, it all depends upon one's perspective. Bishop reminds the reader that, like beauty, loss is in the eye of the beholder. Life, love and loss are all they are made out to be. In the end, Bishop lets the reality of loss embrace her and admits, "the art of losing's not too hard to master" (18), showing us that loss is harder than she cares to admit. Ultimately, allowing herself to lose control allows the reader into a place within Bishop, a place that is within the soul.

Works Cited

Bishop, Elizabeth. “One Art.” Literature and the Writing Process. Backpack ed.
Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, Robert Funk, and Linda S. Coleman. Boston:
Longman-Pearson, 2011. 424-425. Print.