One Art

In this poem "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop what literally occurs is that the speaker proposes that some things are essentially intended to be lost and that losing them should not be taken so seriously. She claims that we become accustomed to loss by working with little things like "door keys" or "the hour badly spent" (line 5), so that when considerable losses happen we will be prepared for it. Also, as the poem progresses it shifts to more significant losses.

The theme of the poem addresses that losing love or friendship is truly difficult to cope with.

The speaker can be characterized as old, wise, and full of experiences in life. This can be inferred because she has obviously lived in many different places and has traveled much due to the fact that she's "lost two cities" and once "owned two rivers, a continent" (lines 13-14). The speaker's tone towards the subject of loss is detached because she truly understands within her heart how awful loss feels. 

The structure of this poem comprises of nineteen lines split up into six stanzas. Three lines are in all the stanzas except the last. The last stanza contains four lines. Furthermore, the rhyme scheme is very particular. All the lines in the poem follow only two end rhymes -either "master" or "intent". The meter of the poem seems to be in a very loose form of iambic pentameter for each line contains either ten or eleven syllables in which every other syllable is stressed.

One observable device is the repetition of materialism visible through "door keys" (line 5) and a "mother's watch" (line 10) that are lost. Its presence is most notably in the first four stanzas of the poem. This device functions to develop the theme that addresses the unimportance of losing material possessions. Another observable device is irony. It becomes apparent within the last stanza when the speaker says that "it's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master" (line 18). This is ironic because it's the opposite of what Bishop feels. 

Diction is another device that is observable. It is visible throughout the entire book. Bishop chooses many words very particularly such as the phrase in lines two and three where she beautifully states--

 "many things seem filled with the intent/ to be lost that their loss is no disaster". 

Diction produces an outstanding effect by making the poem appear very conversational.