One Art

Elizabeth Bishop

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.

- This poem is an example of a Villanelle and I recall doing PC on it at Uni, even though I think its very accessible to younger readers. If you've ever watched 'In Her Shoes' (Cheeks and I had this very excited conversation when we realised we loves both the poems used in the film), there is this amazing scene where one of the sisters who cannot read despite being an adult finally learns to read due to an elderly patient who has lost his sight due to a stroke. This patient used to be a Lit Professor and he really misses poetry, and she reads this poem to him very hesitantly. Then he asks her a few really simple questions which eventually leads to an amazingly poignant PC on the spot. Its a great clip to show in order to reflect what PC and appreciating poetry is about and how poetry can capture an emotion through a specific configuration of images and words. The other poem used is cumming's 'I carry your heart with me' which made me cry! Watch the film and use the poems! This one is a good example of an unreliable narrator.