One Art Themes

In "One Art," Elizabeth Bishop focuses upon one of the eternal truths of our world: that nothing is eternal. The "art" she mentions in the title is in fact "the art of losing" (1.1), something fami...

The many things that the poet loses in "One Art" aren’t just concrete objects, like house keys or watches; rather, they grow more and more abstract, ranging from misspent hours to a lost love...

Sadness is like the big, fat, mopey elephant in this room. In "One Art," Bishop never comes right out and says she’s sad about the many losses mentioned in this poem – in fact, she insi...

People are capable of loving so many things. Seriously, think about it…we get attached to everything, from our childhood homes to favorite items of clothing to – dare we say it? –...

This poem is an exercise in self-deception. By casually dismissing all of her losses, the speaker attempts to deal with their emotional aftermath. That she’s writing it in the first place, ho...