The tone of a poem sets the mood for the attitude one will feel while reading it. The theme of a work is the meaning of a piece yet can be achieved through multiple tones. The two villanelles, Martha Collins “The Story We Know” and Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” both depict themes of love and loss, however, Martha Collins portrays a collected, accepting tone, while Elizabeth Bishop exhibits an indifferent tone. In the poem “The Story We Know” by Martha Collins, she portrays a strong feeling within her poem through a calm collected tone. This seemingly simple poem is discussing birth, death, and the process of life. More specifically, how we live our life until we inevitably meet death and all the people we come across, the people we get to know,
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She speaks about losing and learning to handle the pain of losing things. The poet starts off speaking as if she has mastered the art of losing, the ability to face hurt and sorrow. At the start of the poem, the poets tone appears relaxed and indifferent as she instructs on the “art of losing” (1). She addresses the loss of basic objects and concepts before jumping into far more serious items to lose. She uses the literary device of repetition to get her thoughts across. Specifically, her repetition of the words, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master”(). This phrase represents her thought process throughout the poem. How she is trying to convince herself that losing becomes easier with time and practice. That once you master losing things, no pain or hurt will come along with it. However, it is notable that the art of losing becomes personal and difficult for the poet as the poem continues on. In the third stanza, Elizabeth Bishop says, “Practice losing farther, losing faster: / places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel,” her specificity points to her own sense of loss for people and places (7-9). Her tone no longer seems to be calm or casual. Instead, the poem takes on a self loathing tone, an internal struggle the poet is facing. In the final stanza the poet has a breakdown. She finally comes to terms with the fact that losing love “may look like (Write it!) like disaster”
She speaks about losing and learning to handle the pain of losing things. The poet starts off speaking as if she has mastered the art of losing, the ability to face hurt and sorrow. At the start of the poem, the poets tone appears relaxed and indifferent as she instructs on the “art of losing” (1). She addresses the loss of basic objects and concepts before jumping into far more serious items to lose. She uses the literary device of repetition to get her thoughts across. Specifically, her repetition of the words, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master”(). This phrase represents her thought process throughout the poem. How she is trying to convince herself that losing becomes easier with time and practice. That once you master losing things, no pain or hurt will come along with it. However, it is notable that the art of losing becomes personal and difficult for the poet as the poem continues on. In the third stanza, Elizabeth Bishop says, “Practice losing farther, losing faster: / places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel,” her specificity points to her own sense of loss for people and places (7-9). Her tone no longer seems to be calm or casual. Instead, the poem takes on a self loathing tone, an internal struggle the poet is facing. In the final stanza the poet has a breakdown. She finally comes to terms with the fact that losing love “may look like (Write it!) like disaster”