One Art

[med_cat]

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 disaster.

Elizabeth Bishop (1911 – 1979)

Comments

[med_cat]

I don't think I've read much of her work; I must remedy that soon :)

Two of my favourites are Tennyson and Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

[petrusplancius.livejournal.com]

I came across a volume of her complete poems by chance in a local bookshop, and really love them - she has a very distinctive tone of voice that comes over at once. Agree about Tennyson; I don't know Ella Wheeler Wilcox so well.

[med_cat]

I shall definitely have to hunt up her poems, then :)

Re: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, I have posted those of her poems I like best, you can find them here:

http://med-cat.livejournal.com/tag/ella%20wheeler%20wilcox

And all of her books are available now as scans from Google Books as well.

[petrusplancius.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I will work my through in slow time.

[med_cat]

I hope you enjoy them; let me know :)