“The Complete Poems 1927-1979“ By Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. Her poems are known for their precision, imagery, and attention to detail. “The Complete Poems 1927-1979“ is a collection of all of Bishop’s published poems, showcasing her evolution as a poet over five decades. One of Bishop’s most famous poems is “One Art,“ which is included in this collection. The poem is a villanelle, a form known for its repetitive structure, which Bishop uses to great effect in exploring the theme of loss. The poem begins with the speaker asserting that “the art of losing isn’t hard to master,“ and goes on to list a series of losses, both small and large. The repetition of the phrase “the art of losing“ emphasizes the idea that loss is something that can be learned and even perfected, but as the poem progresses, the repetition takes on a more desperate tone, suggesting that the speaker is struggling to come to terms with a significant loss