One Art: Analysis Interpreted by: Andrea Martinez, Monique Chan, Idali Ramos, Armando Barrientos , Lupe Olide

Elizabeth Bishop Bio Born in February 8, 1911 in Worcester Massachusetts. Died October 6th 1979. Bishop was an only child when her father died before she was a year old. Her mother suffered through a series of mental instabilities and was permanently committed to an institution when she was 5 years old. She never saw her mother again. She was taken care of by her maternal grandparents who lived in Nova Scotia Canada. After some years her paternal grandparents took care of her, they were from Massachusetts. Bishop was sent to the elite Walnut Hills School for Girls and to Vassar college. She founded the literary Journal Con Spirito with Mary McCarthy, Eleanor Clark, and Margaret Miller which was an alternative to the well- established Vassar Review.

Elizabeth Bishops Bio cont. After graduating she lived in New York and traveled extensively in France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and North Africa. In 1938 she move to Key West where she wrote many of the poems that eventually where collected in her to Pulitzer price winning North and South. In 1944 she lived in Brazil for 14 years where she and her lover the architect Lota de Macedo Soares lived. Soon after her lover took her own life. In 1967 to spend less time in Brazil then in New York, San Francisco and Massachusetts wish she took a teaching position at Harvard in 1970. She wrote One Art for her lover Lota de Macedo Soares.

Vocabulary Triplet: any group or combination of three. Quatrain: a stanza or poem of four lines, usually  with alternate rhymes. Fluster: to become agitatedly confused. Vaster: of very great area or extent; immense Realms: a royal domain; kingdom

Structure One Art has a modern Villanelle structure. Villanelle: a French verse form, strictly calculated to appear simple and spontaneous; five tercets and a final quatrain, rhyming aba aba aba aba aba abaa. Lines 1, 6, 12, 18 and 3, 9, 15, 19 are refrains. Refrains are lines that are repeated several times.

Rhyme Scheme This poem also contains three Half Rhymes which are "Fluster" "Last, or" and "gesture." Triplet 1:  Line 1 – refrain 1 (rhyme A, "master") Line 2 (rhyme B, "intent") Line 3 – refrain 2 ("disaster") Triplet 2:  Line 4 (rhyme C, "fluster") Line 5 (rhyme B, "spent") Line 6 – refrain 1 ("master") Triplet 3:  Line 7 (rhyme A, "faster") Line 8 (rhyme B, "meant") Line 9 – refrain 2 ("disaster")

Triplet 4:  Line 10 (rhyme D, "last, or") Line 11 (rhyme B, "went") Line 12 – refrain 1 ("master") Triplet 5:  Line 13 (rhyme A, "vaster") Line 14 (rhyme B, "continent") Line 15 – refrain 2 ("disaster”) Quatrain:  Line 16 (rhyme E, "gesture") Line 17 (rhyme B, "evident") Line 18 – refrain 1 ("master") Line 19 – refrain 2 ("disaster")

Tone The tone of this poem is survivor, but the speaker talks in a detached tone to show the reader the articulate tension between the realities of life and the force of circumstances.

Enjambements The poem also have enjambement on : triplet 1, line 2 quatrain, lines 1, 2, 3

1st Stanza Analysis In the first stanza Bishop is trying to make people realize that losing things isn’t hard. She says that something's are meant to be lost or have that intention. When Bishop says this she is saying that it’s not meaningful, because the items were meant to be lost so it’s no “disaster”.

2nd Stanza ANALYSIS In the 2nd stanza Bishop is losing door keys. The door keys are something small, and have little significance to her. When she says, “the hour badly spent” she is saying that time is being lost, because one is looking for the door keys. She finishes the stanza by saying, “the art of losing isn’t hard to master”. When she says this Bishop means that losing things are easy.

3rd STANZA ANALYSIS In the third stanza Elizabeth Bishop is saying that it is better for you to get use to the idea of losing things of value. Once you get used to the idea of losing something the pain goes away with every loss. So in the end losing precious items won’t be such a big deal, because you have gotten use to the idea of losing something.

4th Stanza Analysis In the fourth stanza the loss has become greater. She lost her mothers watch which had sentimental value. This watch was the only thing that she had left of her mother. In the this stanza she also starts to pause more. The pauses mean she is starting to lose control. Notice how she keeps repeating “The art of losing isn’t hard to master.” She keeps repeating this to convince her self that losing valuable things isn’t so hard to master.

5th Stanza Analysis As the poem progress in the 5th stanza the pauses, become more frequent. The loss also, becomes more valuable. She loses two cities, two rivers, and a continent. At the end of this stanza she says, “ I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.” by saying this she is trying to convince her self again that she is not feeling pain.

6th Stanza Analysis In the last stanza she’s reminiscing about her lover. She’s remembering her gestures. As she states, “(Write it)” she is forcing herself to accept the truth, and that it actually really is a disaster for her. When she states, “the art of losing’s not hard to master” she is being ironic. In the last line she’s showing her true sentimental loss for it. Throughout the whole poem she seems very self controlled, and puts this act that she’s not really bugged about what’s she’s lost. When she starts talking about her lover in the last few lines she couldn’t help her emotions, and basically shows that losing this person was a disaster.

Meaning of the title The title “One Art” implies that dealing with loss is a type of art its self. Towards the end the author also mentions that she needs to write down her emotions. Writing is another art she uses to express herself. The title “One Art” then means that it’s the art of coping, losing, and writing all in one.

QUIZ 1. When was Elizabeth Bishop born? 2. When did Elizabeth Bishop die? 3. What structure is this? 4. What is the poem about? 5. Explain the title? 6. True or False does this poem have enjambment? 7. Where is the enjambment? 8. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? 9. What’s the name of her lover? 10. What is the One Art?