One Art

this is one of my favorite poems ever, called one art. for those new to it, here you go.......

One Art - A poem by Elizabeth Bishop
"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."


to me, this poem is about moving on. Life continuing.
There have been several times in my life where i have lost things. most of them were not disasters. I have even lost people. and though it may seem like a disaster, life moved on, and the disaster aspect faded. this is what Browning is trying to tell us in the poem. she says to lose something every day, so that we become better and more capable to move on with our lives. the heart heals with time i have learned, and it seems that Browning has learned the same thing.