Brandon Arvon
 Born
February 8, 1911
 Father past away of Bright’s disease eight
months after Elizabeth’s birth.
 Mother couldn’t handle death of father and
was in an out of mental asylums.
 In 1916 her mother was diagnosed
permanently insane.
 After death of both parents Elizabeth
traveled all around the world.
 Settle in Brazil with her lover, who later
commits suicide

The art of losing isnt hard to master;
so many things filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster

Everything in life is capable of being
lost, so when you lose it, the feeling
isn't as bad.

Lose something evrey day. Accept the
fluster of lost door keys, the hour
badly spent. The art of losing isnt
hard to master.

Lost keys, an example of something
that is constantly lost by people every
day.

Then practice losing farther, losing
faster: places, and names, and where
it was you meant to travel. None of
these will bring disaster.

Loss is all round us, just accept loss.
As you get older the more and more
things will be lost

I lost my mothers watch. And look! My
last, or next to-last, of three loved
houses went. The art of losing isnt
hard to master.
Mothers watch refers to mothers life
coming to an end, and with the
passing of both her parents, Bishops
life of constant travel begins

I lost to cities, lovely ones. And,
vaster, some realms I owned, two
rivers, a continent. I miss them, but it
wasn’t a disaster.
loss – traveling from one area to
another, over continents and over
rivers, traveling all over the world

Even losing you (The joking voice,a
gesture I love) I shant have lied. Its
evident the art of losing isnt hard to
master though it may look like (write
it!) like disaster.
The final and most traumatic loss for
Bishop. The suicide of her lover in
Brazil. Missing her mates voice
The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
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.
—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Refrain
Imagery
End stopped-line
Alliteration
 The
poem is about coping with loss
 Memories of the past slowly drifting away
 Loss of both mother and father in beginning
then coming full circle and losing her soul
mate
 “She
can afford to let go of these "realms"
because her imagination can provide new
ones” (McCabe).
 “As we move forward, we also step
backwards. The watch stands in for her
mother's absence and loss—a timekeeper that
reflects its inability to "keep" time.
Embedded in the loss of the watch is also the
loss of her mother's caretaking and vigilance,
as well as her father's position as
timekeeper” (McCabe).

Google Images

Bishop, Elizabeth. “One Art.” The Complete poems 1926- 1979. Ed.
Robert Giroux. New York: Farrar and Straus, 1976. Print.

Millier, Brett Candish. “Elusive Mastery: The Drafts of Elizabeth Bishop’s
“One Art”.” New England Review. Ed. New England: Middlebury, 1990.
121-129. Print.

McCabe, Susan. “Elizabeth Bishop: Her Poetics of Loss.” Modern American
Poetry On “One Art”. Ed. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State UP,
1994. Web.