By: Risa Deninta Irawan
Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art is kind of a villanelle poem structured by nineteen lines. The theme of loss, one art, is the art of losing something or someone. It needs a hard skill to deal with the pain, however, the poem existed to overcome the pain of loss itself. From the poet, when Bishop was eight months old, she lost her father. Unfortunately, her mother given up to the mental illness after that, then her mother lost the love to suicide. It may seem like a part of her autobiographical. By mastering the skill of loss, she survived from pain. In addition, the speaker from this poem is a person who experienced in overcome the pain of loss, even though the speaker still feels it profoundly.
An intention, the speaker affirmed that loss is a part of life. However, the speaker persuaded the hearers to accept the pain of loss as a natural part of the human condition. Exposed in the first line “The art of losing isn’t hard to master;” means if humans could overcome the pain it would not affect the emotion for the long-term. From Cleoputri Yusainy’s psychology journal (Feeling Full or Empty Inside? Peran Perbedaan Individual dalam Struktur Pengalaman Afektif), She wrote in page 2 that inability to manage affective experiences can interfere the normal functioning of life (if an emotion becomes a long-term). It related to the poem in which if a human could manage the emotion (from the past or even present) of losing, no matter how terribly the pain, they would keep going even though the pain still deeply felt. In addition, the speaker seems to have “a strength emotion” in the first stanza. The speaker tried to engage the hearers used an amazing opening with the word “master” as someone who strong and have a hard skill to accept the natural part of human life.
In the second stanza, the speaker remained the hearers that loss is every day in life. With the enjambment (a line cut off before stopping point) between first and second lines, the speaker named two common things to lose. The first one exposed in “lost door keys” the keys could be interpreted as someone’s control and “the hour badly spent” is interpreted as time. A human who can accept the fluster (confused) of them, that two common things would not be a disaster in life. In addition, the third stanza raised an emotional tension “Then practice losing farther, losing faster:” the speaker incites the hearers to further the practice. Places, names, and plans are related to the thought of memory which may the hearers hard to accept. The third stanza has a degree of emotion that didn’t exist in the second stanza. However, both stanza still has the same emotion as the first stanza, strength mood. It would be the purpose of the speaker that wanted the hearers to be strong.
On the other hand, the fourth stanza changed into a different tone, it’s impassive when the speaker stated “I lost my mother watch!” it would be an affirmation of the relationship between speaker and family. The word “And look!” the speaker told the hearers that three loved houses went. Furthermore, the continue stanza has told the hearers that the speaker not only lost the cities were used to live but also the whole continent. The speaker is actually missed them, however, tried to pretend that everything would not be a disaster like in the line “I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster”. In the final stanza, this is more personality memorable, like in the first “Even losing you” revealed a quite painfully rational. The lost memories of someone’s voice and gesture that exposed in “the joking voice, a gesture”. The pain of loss would not be a disaster if a human could manage self-control as Yusainy explained in her journal. On page 3, she explained that self-control as one of the main adaptive traits that depend on emotions. The speaker persuaded the hearers using this poem to manage the emotion, survive, and accept the fate that humans could not avoid.
As the purpose of the poem is to overcome the pain of loss, the title should be looked at carefully. One Art: started from the door keys to houses to people (One), and mastering the hard skill of loss through practice (Art). In addition, the poem used the language device “metonymy” as indicates the larger idea. In the line “Lost door keys” could be interpreted as losing control and the word “master” is interpreted as a person who has meditated and experienced the pain. Judy Meibach claims about the poem (on poemhunter.com) “ … this particular piece is extraordinary … ” He also claimed that the poem was used in an American film last year which talked about Alzheimers. The poem is certainly has psychology matter. What Judy Meibach has said, when a person has Alzheimer’s disease, her/she would difficult in remembering some events. One Art, would be a remainder (also for people who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease) to accept that human also could loss memories which ever happened in life.
To sum up everything, Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art is a great poem to overcome the pain of loss. From the poem, she wanted people to survive and become strong that she picked the dominant strength tone. She also illustrated the larger idea of “master” as a person who has a skill and experienced to accept the pain. The psychology matter is dominant in the poem because losing someone, places, also memories would break the mental down. However, if humans have good self-control of the emotion, it would not be a long-term emotional. They will keep going, though each pain still feels deeply.