One Art: Letters of Elizabeth Bishop

by Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Giroux (Editor)

Robert Lowell once remarked, "When Elizabeth Bishop's letters are published (as they will be), she will be recognized as not only one of the best, but one of the most prolific writers of our century." One Art is the magificent confirmation of Lowell's prediction.

From several thousand letters, written by Bishop over fifty years—from 1928, when she was seventeen, to the day of her death, in Boston in 1979—Robert Giroux, the poet's longtime friend and editor, has selected over five hundred missives for this volume. In a way, the letters comprise Bishop's autobiography, and Giroux has greatly enhanced them with his own detailed, candid, and highly informative introduction. One Art takes us behind Bishop's formal sophistication and reserve, fully displaying the gift for friendship, the striving for perfection, and the passionate, questing, rigorous spirit that made her a great artist.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Writing, Art, Biography Memoir

668 pages, Hardcover

First published December 4, 1995

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Elizabeth Bishop was an American poet and writer from Worcester, Massachusetts. She was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1956. and a National Book Award Winner for Poetry in 1970. She is considered one of the most important and distinguished American poets of the 20th century.

Reviews

[Phyllis]

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.

[Evoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One Art" is officially one of my favorite contemporary poems.

[Erin Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that brings out the compulsive side of me. I read every letter--even the most mundane, and there were many of those: doctor's visits, housekeeping, etc. Since Bishop is among my favorite poets, I was compelled to read everything, not wanting to miss a shred of her life story. The letters work like puzzles; we have only Bishop's, so we have to piece together what she's responding to. That's partly what's so interesting. As with any real person, though, there are sides of her we don't particularly like to see, including racist, elitist attitudes. I was reminded of that saying about heroes--sometimes it's better not to meet them. Overall, though, this comprehensive account is worthy for that idea, exactly: here is Bishop's character, well-developed, rounded, whom we like and dislike at times, and whose loves and losses matter.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three months, 541 letters, and 639 pages later — EB was terrified of reading in front of a crowd, loved cats, and had a ping-pong table in her dining room. She wrote to her friends about everything from flowers and books to architecture and her pet toucan Sammy. During a visit to St. John’s in 1932 she wrote: “The streets and houses all fall down toward the water — apparently supported on the masts of the sealers and schooners below.” I’ll miss reading these letters before bed — I think I’ll keep it on my bedside table just in case.

[HR Habibur Rahman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

যা কিছু মনে হয় হারালে খুব কষ্ট হবে আসলে ততোটা হয়না। কিছু কিছু জিনিস হারানো ভালো বরং 😇

পুরা বই মেলা বড়। যাস্ট কবিতাটা পড়ছি। 😑

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Nicholas Zorich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bishop's young adult poem, One Art, Bishop uses symbolism to beautifully discuss the theme of loss and the way in which individuals can recognize and build from them. I personally enjoyed this poem and the meaning I took away from it may be different than how others interpret it. This is one of the beauties in poetry and literature is the reality that it can be analyzed and interpreted in entirely new ways based on how it is written and One Art is certainly one of these poems.

Poetry

[Cherry Ma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed EB's poems, particularly for their cool objectivity, their calm impersonality, and their resistance to the confessional style. EB's letters provide a rare glimpse of her struggles with health and loneliness, her tender passions with Lota, and how she coped with Lota's illness and death.

[Mary Thelma · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It´s evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster."

Just worthwhile. A must!

[Rُumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The type of book you keep beside your night stand and get back to it , can not say more.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bishop’s long time editor selected over 500 letters from the thousands she had written in her lifetime. These letters cover her lively friendships with leading poets and artists of her day, the tragic death of her long time lover, and her lifelong struggle with alcoholism. If you are a fan of her poetry, this epistolary addition is a gift, although finishing it on a rainy Boston day leaves me feeling melancholy. Her life was filled with such sadness. Sadness she turned into such amazing poems:

Five Flights Up

Still dark.
The unknown bird sits on his usual branch.
The little dog next door barks in his sleep
Inquiringly, just once.
Perhaps in his sleep, too, the bird inquires.
once or twice, quavering.
Questions—if that is what they are—
answered directly, simply,
by day itself.

Enormous morning, ponderous, meticulous;
gray light streaking each bare branch,
Each single twig, along one side,
Making another tree, of glassy veins…
The bird sits there. Now he seems to yawn.

The little black dog runs in his yard.
His owner’s voice arises, stern,
“You ought to be ashamed!”
What has he done?
He bounces cheerfully up and down;
he rushes in circles in the fallen leaves.

Obviously, he has no sense of shame.
He and the bird know everything is answered,
all taken care of,
no need to ask again.
—yesterday brought to today so lightly!
(A yesterday I find almost impossible to lift.)

[Yool Choi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author suggests that losing may look like a disaster and bring feelings of remorse or sadness, but ultimately all things get lost and are able to be overcome, through repeating words but changing its underlying meaning. There is a gradual increase in loss in our lives which may feel harder and harder to overcome, but ultimately, the author says that even the hardest losses can be overcome.

[Carson Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a personal level, I feel that Bishop's poem allows for great understanding and an opportunity to gain insight into complexity. Specifically, Bishop uses unreliable narration to hint at the art of losing being "hard to master," contradicting the narrative the storyteller is trying to tell in the poem.

[Edward Yoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Art shows a series of losses, from small everyday things to deeply personal ones, as the speaker tries to frame loss as something controllable. Despite claiming that “the art of losing isn’t hard to master,” the poem actually shows how fragile that belief is, which shows the speaker is failing to convince herself.

[Yuri Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

One Art: Letters of Elizabeth Bishop shows that even someone known for control and precision in poetry was constantly uncertain and vulnerable in real life. The letters make her feel less like a distant literary figure and more like someone figuring things out in real time, which makes her work hit harder.

[Ian Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I noticed that Bishop uses a repetitive "art of losing" refrain to make loss seem like a minor, daily habit. As the poem moves from lost keys to lost people, that casual tone completely falls apart. The final line shows that she’s actually struggling to handle the grief. It proves that no matter how much you practice, some losses never get easier.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I only read "One Art", a poem about losing things. You start off small and build up and these things don't matter "the art of losing’s not too hard to master". Although, they do matter and especially losing people, it can be a disaster. Short but clever poem.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bishop’s letters show that her "art of losing" was actually just a cover-up for the fact that she was struggling to move on. The real "art" she practiced wasn't getting over her losses, but using her writing to hide how much they actually hurt her.

[Yena Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this poem because it talks about how loss is inevitable, and the faster you get used to it, the more you will get used to it. It discusses a deep topic through irony and repetition, which was really impressive.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My hot take is that the letters make Bishop feel a lot more human and uncertain than her polished poetry suggests. Seeing her doubts and everyday thoughts changed how I view her work, it feels less distant and more personal now.

[Susan Eubank · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I liked best was her telling of all the poets collected letters she read and then toward the end she advised a would be poet to do that to learn, somewhat, how to write poetry.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

i cry evry time

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading letters by poets, it's like bonus poetry.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t read anywhere near all of course—mostly just the late forties. Bishop as a writer with those interactions interests me. Her private life—nah

[Bo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dipped in and out of this very long, very dense book of letters.

And how amazing...the days of letter writing as a true art of communicating.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loss is inevitable. It is something that everyone goes through whether it is minor or major.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Art feels like someone trying to stay calm while secretly falling apart. Elizabeth Bishop keeps saying loss is “no disaster,” but the more she repeats it, the less true it sounds.

[Beomjun Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

“One Art” is basically a masterclass in emotional self-gaslighting. The speaker keeps insisting loss is “no disaster,” but the repetition only exposes how badly they’re lying to themselves.

[Yoonwoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather than a message to the reader, this poem ultimately reveals the speaker attempting to convince themselves that loss can be made trivial.

[Chloe Yoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art pretends to be about mastering loss, but it actually exposes how impossible that mastery is. The villanelle’s strict, repetitive form feels less like control and more like someone desperately trying to convince themselves they’re fine. By the end, the poem quietly admits that loss isn’t an art you can learn, it’s something that inevitably breaks through performance.