Stuff I like:
“The mystery is not that we love, but that we ever stop loving. Because love always overreaches its mark; there is always too much than can be given away, and no where to put what is left over. Eventually love’s roots, like a wild potbound vine, outgrow the heart and break it open.”
By Elizabeth Bishop: 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. 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.
I love this poem – it makes me cry! But I’m not quite sure how to interpret it. Anyone?
Namely the “(Write it!)” – what does that mean?
/claus, denmark
I think she was trying to`show that it did not matter to her loosing that person who inspired her the poem. I think she shows (in the last part of the poem)some deep dissapointment/hurting so, deep inside her, she is trying to convince herself she can live without that love/person.
English is my second language so I hope this is understandable. I love the poem to.
I think “write it” means that the poet want the reader to write the sentence “It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster” down.I don’t known whether it is right or not. just for consideration.
she is forcing herself to “say it” or “write it”, because it is probably stuck like a knot in one’s throat.
If you write it, the record says it’s real. Denial is always subject to proof. Example: If I cry alone, I can later put on a cheerful face and dis-remember my grief. If I record my tears in a journal, my fingers are witness; even if no one ever reads the words.
In the beginning she is talking about trivial things, material things you can lose and whose loss does not matter; it’s not a disaster. Then, towards the end, she talks about a friend…his joking voice, a gesture she loved…and she is trying to convince herself that losing that friend, just like the material things, does not matter; that it isnt a disaster. But deep down she knows that it is. She knows that if nothing, the loss of that friend is the ultimate disaster. So in her last sentence, she says “write it” to reinforce that self denial.. She knows she is lying to herself when she says that it doesnt matter…and because she is lying, she has to write it down….SAY IT..so that maybe it will become true.
This poem is about friendship and the loss of that friendship and trying to move on and live without that person in your life. It is hard but since one cannot just walk around in regret and sadness all the time, one has to find ways to rationalize away those uncomfrotable and painful feelings as well as ones emotions towards that friend and his loss.
It is human nature to rationalize away, either through self denial or fabrication of mindsets, certain realities in order to cope with the painful truth. In this case, comparing the loss of a friend to that of everything else one can lose and which ultimately doesnt matter, makes it easier, in ones mind, on the surface, to handle – even though the shadow….the real you that lies beneath, knows that it IS in fact a big deal and a tragedy.
To keep your sanity you sometimes have to lie to yourself. This is exactly what this author is trying to do – somewhat unsuccessfully though, because she has to consciously remind herself of it.