Pag. 23 es. 1
Consider the title: imagine the theme of the poem.

Considering the title the poem may be about one specific type of art.

es. 2
Look at the poem.
a. What is its layout?
The poem is divided into five stanzas of 3 lines each, while the last stanza is made of 4 lines.
b. Can you detect any pattern?
Yes, I can. The first line (“The art of losing isn’t hard to master”) is a kind of refrain. It opens the poem and it is repeated in stanzas 2,4 and 6 (here with a minor variation: “The art of losing isn’t too hard to master”). Also the word “disaster”, which appears in stanzas 1, 3, 5, 6, could be read as a “counter”-refrain.

Pag. 24 es. 3
Read the poem a first time: do you find it difficult? Why/Why not?
Although there are many everyday words, its interpretation requires careful reading.

es. 4
Read the poem again, aloud; focus on your impressions while reading and note them down.
I felt sadness, a sense of loss, despair, sorrow, but also love and attachment.

es. 5
Watch the video (https://tiny.cc/nc2epy) and stop just after Prof. M. Mark has finished reading the poem. Can you confirm your perceptions?
Yes, I can.

es. 6
Now, read the poem again and try to work out the following.
a. Rhyme scheme: identify the arrangement of rhymes (if any) in the poem.
The rhyme scheme is ABA, and ABAA in the last stanza, whose first line is more an example of consonance that rhyme (gesture vs faster/vaster/disaster).
b. Structure: is there a name for the type of stanza(s) you have identified?
Tercet and quatrain.
c. Tone: try to imagine the poet reciting her own verses: would her tone be joyful, serious, sad, resigned or angry?
In my opinion it would be sad. The ‘I’ voice sounds almost resigned to the inevitability of loss.
d. Who is the speaking voice addressing?
The speaking voice addresses a ‘you’ who is not the reader, but the person he/she has lost.
e. Is the speaker trying to warn her listener/reader about something?
The speaker warns her listener/reader that losing things or people is part of life; we become masters at ‘the art of losing’ and learn that life tends to go on as before, although any loss may be experienced as disaster.
f. Themes: what is the speaker talking about?
The speaker is talking about how easy it is to lose things and loved ones.

es. 7
Compare your previous answer to the predictions made before reading the poem: do they match?
No, they don’t, because the title suggests something about art, whereas the text is about various types of loss and the feelings connected to them.

es. 8
To understand a poem, you can try and reformulate each stanza in your own words. The paragraphs below are examples of how to do this. Match each stanza of the poem with the corresponding paragraph.
a. stanza 3: Now try and lose bigger things, do it more often: cities, names and the places you were supposed to go. Nothing happens if you forget about them.
b. stanza 2: Imagine you lose something daily, for example your keys.
c. stanza 1: It is easy to lose things, especially because many of them seem to ask for it, and it is not a big issue, anyway.
d. stanza 6: But losing someone I love is not unimportant. It is true, losing is an easy process, but at times its consequences are tragic.
e. stanza 4: A family object disappeared, and soon after even one of the houses where I used to live.
f. stanza 5: I used to live in a couple of places in a country I really liked, I had some dear corners where I used to find peace. I don’t have them anymore, but it is not such a big deal.

Pag. 25 es. 9
The observations made above can be combined with your interpretation of the various stanzas in order to produce a short summary and analysis, like the one below. Fill in the gaps with the words provided.

One Art is made up of six stanzas; the first four stanzas contain three lines, while the last consists of four. The poem is a villanelle, a form rustic songs; its rhyme scheme is ABA. The ‘I’ voice talks to a ‘you’ expressing sadness and sense of loss, while making ironical comments on the inevitability of losing objects and opportunities. Losing a loved one, however, is a much more painful experience, and the poet finally forces herself to acknowledge that that is disaster.

es. 10
Let’s continue with the analysis.
a. Language: is it formal/informal? Are there any unusual words?
The language is informal, as shown by contracted forms and the direct address to the listener/reader through imperative and the pronoun “you”. There are some common words and most of the vocabulary belongs to everyday language.
b. Can you visualise some of the scenes depicted by the author?
Yes, I can. Some of the scenes depicted by the author are easy to visualise, like losing a watch or keys, or wasting time.
c. Figures of speech. In the text find examples of:
1. metaphor
“One Art” may suggest that the art of losing and the art of writing poems are one and the same. We are good at losing things, making it an “art”.
2. enjambment
line 2 and 3: “so many things seem filled with the intent/to be lost that their loss is no disaster”; line 4 and 5: “Accept the fluster/of lost door keys, the hour badly spent”; line 8 and 9: “places, and names, and where it was you meant/to travel...”; line 11 and 12: “And look! my last, or/next-to-last, of three oved houses went.”; line 16 and 17: “–Even losing you(the joking voice, a gesture/I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident/”.
3. assonance
line 1 and 8: “The art of losing isn’t hard to master”; “places, and names, and where it was you meant/”
4. alliteration and consonance
line 2 and 3: “so many things seem filled with the intent/to be lost that their loss is no disaster.”

es. 11
In the text, underline the following.
a. Repetitions, in green: the art of losing isn’t hard to master; be lost/lost door keys/I lost; no disaster/bring disaster/wasn’t a disaster/like disaster; losing farther/losing faster/even losing you; And look!/look like.
b. Past tenses, in blue: you meant; I lost; loved houses went; I owned; it wasn’t; I shan’t have lied.
c. Statements, in red: the art of losing isn’t hard to master; their loss is no disaster; none of these will bring disaster; the art of losing’s not too hard to master.

Pag. 26 es. 12
Circle the following.
a. Words referring to...(in this text, feelings and emotions): intent, loss, fluster, loved, lovely ones, I miss, joking, I love.
b. Nouns describing or defining...(in this text, her losses): things, door keys, hour, places, names, mother’s watch, three houses, two cities, realms, two rivers, a continent, voice, a gesture.

es. 13
Focus on verb forms.
a. What is the prevailing tense: present, past, future?
Present.
b. Are there any passive forms?
To be lost; lost door keys; an hour badly spent.
c. Are there any imperatives?
Lose something; accept the fluster; practice losing; look!; Write it!
d. What is the main sentence type: affirmative, negative, interrogative?
Affirmative.