One Art - Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop is considered one of the most important American poets of the twentieth century. Known to be a perfectionist, who would spend long periods of time polishing her work . Only 101 poems where published during her life time.

One art is a very interesting and deep poem, that talks about mastering loss and one's emotions,  but  at the end...she doesn't believe that loosing 'isn't hard to master'. 

First feeling in the poem is that she's trying to convince herself that loosing small things like a key is no disaster, easy to cope with, then the things increase in dimension and value and still it doesn't matter she can master it, it's no disaster. 

Then, when loosing that someone, because the only important loss is her love, she has difficulties to write sincerely, for that was truly a disaster she has yet to master.

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 a disaster. 

Elizabeth Bishop
1911–1979