One Art - Elizabeth Bishop

The last poem I looked at, George Herbert's The Collar relied on a steady build up of tension and a sudden jolt at the end to convey its message.

Elizabeth Bishop's One Art is a very different poem but also has a startling and equally successful jolt that is a key part of its appeal

TEXT

Here is a link to the text

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/one-art/

MEANING

Like The Collar, this is not a poem whose meaning is obscure. The speaker meditates, slightly sardonically about various things she has "lost". Losing things, people and ambitions is characterised as an "art" that you gradually get the hang of. None of the losses individually is a disaster. The final stanza focuses on the loss of a particular relationship which, apart from the "Write it!", to which we will return, is just another loss in a long, and not disastrous, line of losses.

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THIS POEM

The form of the poem, with its three line stanzas and frequent repetition of rhyme sounds and even whole phrases (a "modified villanelle" if you are interested) is entirely in keeping with the central idea of the poem, namely that losses will keep on happening through one's life.

However, what I think really sets this poem apart is the deliberate hiding of the emotion and the fact that the true emotion, and indeed meaning, is revealed only in a two word "jolt" right at the end.

Note the slightly sardonic, supercilious notion that continued losses are an "art" that can be "mastered". Note the losses that are referred to: the triviality of losing one's door keys is referred to next to the loss, presumably with advancing age, of ambition to travel. Then there is the continued refrain that no loss is a disaster. The overall impression from these stanzas is of a self-assured, dispassionate commentator turning away from the emotion that you might expect someone to feel at continued loss and advancing age.

But right at the end, she speaks about her lost relationship. She is well on the way to concluding that this is yet another "loss" that is no disaster but, at the last minute she can't bring herself to do so. The "Write it!" is a rebellion against the dispassionate tone of the rest of the poem. We realise not only that this particular loss is indeed a "disaster" but that the writer does indeed experience extreme emotion about her losses and that the sardonic tone adopted is nothing more than a front to protect herself. She is in fact, desperately afraid of advancing age and desperately sad about her lost relationship. But she is not going to tell you that. No, you have to work it out for yourself.

Show me a piece of prose that can have that effect in so few words.

The Collar - George Herbert

Poetry has a bit of an image problem at the moment. No doubt with one eye on league tables, it no longer features prominently in many schools' syllabuses. It is seen as a special interest pursuit or, perhaps worse, as elitist and exclusive.

That is partly true. It is certainly harder work to read a poem than it is to read the sports pages. But I think the hard work can be worth it. Over the next few weeks, I would like to examine a particular poem in some detail and try to analyse both what it means but, more importantly, what makes it special. In this post, I would like to examine The Collar by George Herbert and introduce you to poetry's ability to communicate unfamiliar experiences.

TEXT

Here is a link to the text:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-collar/

MEANING

The "meaning" is extremely clear. The writer of the poem starts out extremely angry, striking the table fiercely. He has had enough and is going to leave the country. He has had enough sighing and pining for his religion and feels that he is missing out on pleasure. He is going to make up for lost time by having double rations of pleasure. He seems to be getting more and more determined, his language more and more resolute. But just at the peak of his anger and at the moment he has finally resolved to devote himself to a life of pleasure he thinks he hears God's voice speaking kindly to him. His fury disappears immediately and he replies simply "My Lord", his faith reaffirmed in an instant.

WHAT MAKES THIS POEM SPECIAL

What I find special about this poem is its ability to communicate an unfamiliar experience directly. I am not at all religious. I have therefore never experienced either strong faith, or strong doubt. This poem takes us on a journey with a man whose faith is sorely tested, but which ends up stronger. Even if we are not religious, we identify strongly with the writer and begin to understand the emotions he is experiencing.

The poem achieves this by the contrast between the build up to a crescendo and the calm language of pure love in the final four lines.

Let's examine the language a little more closely:

We all identify with that initial striking of the table. How many times have we done that and said that we have "had enough". How many times is that just bluster and bravado? That is how we meet the speaker. At first he seems to be blustering. But he gradually starts to realise that he is "free as the road, loose as the wind". He can do something about his situation if he wants to. He also focuses specifically on the material things his religious life makes him give up. The overblown vagueness of the image of the thorn draining his blood and not replacing it with "cordial fruit" leads him to think of the wine he could be drinking and from there onto the food he could be eating.

Focusing on these specifics makes him become determined and coolly rational. "Not so, my heart, but there is fruit". This is the rational head telling the heart that in fact something can be done about this situation and when we hear "I will abroad" again, this is the voice of a man who has made up his mind.

And then he thinks he hears a voice calling "Child". He replies instantly, unthinkingly "My Lord" bowing to without question to God. This isn't a surrender. He is not a dog who has been pulled back forcibly by his collar. The voice pulling him back comes from inside. This is the simple acquiescence of someone who realises that he is indeed "free as the road, loose as the wind", but is choosing to adhere to the faith embodied in his priest's collar.

What a truly amazing poem.