The art of losing isn't hard to master?

What are your thoughts on this poem? My class is going over it on monday.





One Art





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.





Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master?
iv heard this before. its really good.


when she says








"


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."





she is talking about losing every day things. but then she gets to saying,





"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."





shes talking about losing bigger and more important things, a really close friends. because she lied. the continents rivers and citys that shes talking about are her good friend that she cares alot about. and unfortunantly she mastered losing them.





this is one of my favourite poems.
Reply:its good...but ya almost lost me somewhere in the middle hard to put togeather alot of random stuff needs to be deleted.
Reply:there are some very interesting comments on this piece on the minstrels site.





it is also worth comparing it with dylan thomas 'do not go gentle' which uses the same form (the villanelle) to talk about a death.





i have quite a lot of opinions about this poem - but i think you might find it fun to discover your own.