one art by elizabeth bishop
I think poetry has lost an awful lot of its muscle because nobody knows any. Nobody has to memorize poetry. – Peter Davison
I read somewhere that poetry is designed to be read aloud. It’s meant to be given voice and maintains a close relationship with speaking and singing, not just for the eye and the mind. The sound and rhythm are important elements of the music of poetry. True enough, when I try silent reading versus reading aloud, the latter produces more impact, oftentimes pleasurable. The hints of emotions become vivid. Most importantly, it helps to understand and eventually memorize the words.
I cannot remember the last time I memorized a poem, even my own, except when rendered into a song, recorded and publicly performed. I wish to motivate myself and provide a long-term residence inside my brain for some poems worth memorizing beginning with a piece by Elizabeth Bishop. A villanelle understating her thoughts on loss. I believe the one art she’s referring to is the art of writing as presented in the parenthetical “(Write it)” as being therapeutic. Her blocked emotions, pent-up pain and buried anger released positively in six stanzas.
One Art
by Elizabeth Bishop
Dragonfly Collector 
2 Responses to “one art by elizabeth bishop”
Food for thought. Om nom nom nom.
Yes indeed, blocked emotions – though she tries to keep herself from getting bogged down by this sense of loss by telling herself that none of it is as disastrous as it seems, but her buried sadness is right there at the core. Love how she puts tiny insignificant losses right up next to huge ones in her mind (and in her poem). This poem’s so reflective.Thanks for sharing Clemen. Hugs.