a draft of Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art"

Hey there, all.

I want to share something very cool that one of my colleagues shared with me a couple of years ago: one of Elizabeth Bishop's early drafts for "One Art." I'm not sure how my colleague came by this--she herself is a poet, and a long-time teacher of poetry, so maybe there's a secret handshake she employed--but in the end I'm not sure I care where it came from. I love the idea of asking why it went from this form to the villanelle--what, Helen might say, it had to gain from including so much repetition. Thoughts? See you at lunch.

Ayres

HOW TO LOSE THINGS /? THE GIFT OF LOSING THINGS?

One might begin by losing one’s reading glasses

oh 2 or 3 times a day – or one’s favorite pen.

THE ART OF LOSING THINGS

One thing to do is to begin by “mislaying”.

Mostly, one begins by “mislaying”:

keys, reading-glasses, fountain pens

- these are almost too easy to be mentioned,

and “mislaying” means that they usually turn up

in the most obvious place, although when one

is making progress, the places grow more unlikely

- This is by way of introduction. I really

want to introduce myself - I am such a

fantastically good at losing things

I think everyone shd. profit from my experiences.

You may find it hard to believe, but I have actually lost

I mean lost, and forever, two whole houses,

one a very big one. A third house, also big, is

at present, I think, “mislaid” – but

maybe it’s lost, too. I won’t know for sure for sometime.

I have lost one long peninsula and one island.

I have lost – it can never be has never been found –

a small-sized town on that same island.

I’ve lost smaller bits of geography, like and many smaller bits of geography or so

a splendid beach , and a good-sized bay.

Two whole cities, two of the

world’s biggest cities (two of the most beautiful

although that’s beside the point)

A piece of one continent –

and one entire continent. All gone, gone forever and ever.

One might think this would have prepared me

for losing one average-sized not especially---------- exceptionally

beautiful or dazzlingly intelligent person

(except for blue eyes) (only the eyes were exceptionally beautiful and

but it doesn’t seem to have, at all… the hands looked intelligent)

the fine hands

a good piece of one continent

and another continent – the whole damned thing!

He who loseth his life, etc. – but he who

loses his love – never, no never never never again -