Everybody knows the feeling of losing little things. For most of us, the list of these things is very long. We lose pens and pencil cases at school, scarfs and gloves on trains or keys and wallets in restaurants. Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “One Art”, which was published in her 1976 volume Geography III, can be read as an instruction on how to deal with our losses. In her essay „Bishop’s Sexual Poetics“, Joanne Feit Diehl argues that the poem presents “a series of losses as if to reassure both its author and its reader that control is possible“ (24). Its aim, as is the case with all of Bishop’s work, is not to be assigned into any particular classification (Vendler 294). Rather the poem reads like a lecture by an expert who teaches us “the art of losing”. In this term paper,
I will show that Bishop’s “One Art” initially succeeds in building up an indifferent façade. However, in the course of the poem, the lyrical I realises that she cannot apply her approach to the loss of a person. While “One Art” serves as a recipe on how to deal with small everyday losses, it fails to provide strategies for coping with significant losses in life we all have to face.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. “One Art”: A Lesson in Losing?
3. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines Elizabeth Bishop’s poem "One Art" to analyze how the speaker attempts to construct a mantra of detachment to cope with loss. It explores the transition from the loss of trivial objects to the profound emotional impact of losing a beloved person, ultimately questioning the possibility of mastering the art of losing.
- The role of the villanelle form in mirroring the speaker's quest for control.
- The psychological shift from addresssing the reader to a self-directed confession.
- The distinction between mastering the loss of objects versus the loss of people.
- The function of "One Art" as an instructional, yet ultimately failing, mantra.
Excerpt from the Book
“One Art”: A Lesson in Losing?
The central idea of Bishop’s 1976 poem “One Art” is introduced as early as in the first line: “the art of losing isn’t hard to master” (1). Thematically, the poem can be divided into two parts. While the first three stanzas deal with the loss of everyday objects, the three remaining stanzas are concerned with emotional losses that are considerably harder to face.
In the first stanza, the lyrical I implies that some things „seem filled with the intent to be lost“ (2-3). While this is a nuisance, nothing can be done to prevent these losses. Bishop suggests to “[a]ccept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent” (4-5). In order to be able to get used to these losses, she even encourages the reader to face the problem head on, to “[l]ose something every day” (4). In the third stanza, she continues with this step by step manual and lists a number of things that are more abstract in nature. Still, she invites the reader to practise losing, to lose “farther and faster” (7), while assuring herself and the reader that “[n]one of these things will bring disaster” (9).
As the poem progresses, the losses she mentions grow more and more significant. With the fourth stanza, the speaker introduces the idea of lost things that are of emotional value: her mother’s watch, two houses (9-19). However, her description of coping with these losses remains mostly reserved. The lyrical I still suggests that “the art of losing isn’t hard to master” (12). Until the last two stanzas, her mantra seems to be working, and she succeeds in making the reader believe that none of her losses affect her.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter provides an overview of the poem's context and sets the research focus on the poem's failure to provide a successful coping mechanism for significant personal losses.
2. “One Art”: A Lesson in Losing?: This section analyzes the poem’s structure, the shift in the speaker's tone, and the thematic progression from managing the loss of everyday objects to confronting the loss of a loved one.
3. Conclusion: This final chapter synthesizes the findings, highlighting the distinction between the loss of objects and people while reflecting on the human necessity to mourn despite the desire for emotional control.
Keywords
Elizabeth Bishop, One Art, villanelle, loss, mourning, emotional control, lyrical I, poetry, Geography III, coping mechanisms, self-deception, trauma, literary analysis, verse form, grief.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper focuses on Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art," analyzing how the speaker uses the poem as an instructional lecture on "the art of losing" to mask internal pain.
What are the central thematic fields explored in the text?
The central themes include the psychological process of dealing with loss, the conflict between emotional control and human vulnerability, and the distinction between trivial and significant losses.
What is the primary research question or goal?
The goal is to demonstrate that while "One Art" effectively builds an indifferent facade for managing minor losses, it ultimately fails to provide a strategy for coping with the loss of a person, revealing the speaker's self-deception.
Which scientific methods are applied in this work?
The author employs a close reading of the poem, supported by literary theory and references to critical essays by scholars such as Joanne Feit Diehl, Helen Vendler, and others.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body examines the poem's thematic division, the structural impact of the villanelle form, the shift in pronoun usage from the reader to the self, and the final confession of disaster.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Elizabeth Bishop, One Art, loss, mourning, self-deception, villanelle, and coping mechanisms.
How does the villanelle form contribute to the poem's message?
The strict, repetitive nature of the villanelle mirrors the speaker's desire for emotional control and order, which paradoxically highlights the messiness and pain of the actual loss being described.
Why does the speaker use the phrase "Write it!" in the final stanza?
The italicized "(Write it!)" serves as a meta-textual intervention, indicating that the speaker has been forcing herself to adhere to her mantra and that this act of writing—and the poem itself—has been a form of lying to herself.
- Quote paper
- Sabine Strebel (Author), 2017, The Confession of Self-Deception in Elizabeth Bishop’s "One Art", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/412603
