Poem Help

[urenda05]

Ok, I am not much a poetry master like the rest of you. Therefore, I may need some help annotating a poem that is somewhat hard for me to interpret. I ask that yuo give any help you think is necessary. I would really appreciate this. Thank you.


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.
That art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
Places, and names, and where it was you mean
To travel. Nine 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
That art of losing not too hard to master
Though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

[ktd222]

We'll do this together urenda05.

I guess you can start by asking what form this poem is written in, and define it.

[Anthony Furze]

Great poem! Very clever! I love the consistent rhyming, and the tone.

How about you,urenda05 and ktd222?

[seasong]

omg. I had to write an essay on this in high school. I got a pretty good grade on it so I'll dig it out when I get home....maybe in 8 hours or so and I'll let you know what I think the key themes are.

[seasong]

She is attempting to convincer herself that loss is masterable and this struggle is portrayed through her increasing attachment to the items described, the recurring theme of locations, and the lessening materiality shown throughout the poem. So basically, she's trying to deal with "losing you" and convince herself that it isn't hard to deal with, but failing.

[ktd222]

She is attempting to convincer herself that loss is masterable and this struggle is portrayed through her increasing attachment to the items described, the recurring theme of locations, and the lessening materiality shown throughout the poem. So basically, she's trying to deal with "losing you" and convince herself that it isn't hard to deal with, but failing.

I don't think she is trying to convince anyone more than she is trying to show how one masters the art of losing. That is why I think the form is so important in this poem. Do you think the speaker succeeds in showing how one masters the art of losing by the end of the poem, seasong?