70 Favorite Poems: 8. One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
[The Art of Losing is universal and Elizabeth Bishop captured it perfectly in this poem.]
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 everyday. 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 things 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.
This is one of my favorite poems too. So beautifully written.
30 September 2009 at 8:13 am
its a great poem its beautifully writtn and has so many deep meanings i mean it does change our lives if we actually thought about it deeply i watched the movie in her shows because of this poem like a million time and i still cat get enough of it because it makes my day everytime i hear what it has to say…
7 January 2010 at 2:45 am
i mean the movie in her shoes*
7 January 2010 at 2:47 am