Keys, phone, wallet¬¬—losing things is a natural and common occurrence in life. Losses are not all made equal, however. This idea is portrayed in Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “One Art.” Bishop’s own losses are paralleled with the poem’s contents. In her work, Bishop’s progression from material loss to the ever-difficult loss of a loved one highlights this parallel. In this poem, Elizabeth Bishop’s contrasting and powerful word choice, as well as the order, display how stricken with loss her own life was and however frequently occurring it is, one never really masters leaving people. Throughout the poem, Bishop uses numerous opposing words and phrases to display the contradictory nature of considering loss to be an “art.” “The
