Summary of

One Art, by Elizabeth Bishop

The poem is arranged into six stanzas, which have different functions in the poem.

In the first stanza the poetess throws the main message: reading only these three lines everybody can get an almost-complete look about what the poem will say.

In the two following stanzas the speaking voice tells you what to do to learn to lose things without lose yourself.

In stanzas four and five the speaking voice explains her losses and how she felt after that.

In particular, three lines are exploited to tell about losing things, the following ones to tell about losing places.

The last stanza, made up of four lines, is used by the poetess to speak directly with who reads the poem, reassuming the message given.