It is harder to critique a work of writing when you read the first draft and then the final. The first draft of the poem One Art by Elizabeth Bishop shows many differences from the final. It almost becomes an entirely different piece by the end of her revision. The first draft is more scientific and less poetic. She puts the words “misplaced” or “mislay” in quotes, probably because she knew she had to change them eventually. The final draft is much smoother. Its lines are more even, and the language is consistent. Her repetition of the line “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” really brings the poem together.
A poem based on One Art:
Lost
The art of losing isn’t hard to master
It creeps up and brings on disaster
cunning, cunning, clever thing
what have you misplaced today?
You lost your heart, for one
and perhaps the function of an ear
for listening no longer
are you and your lost patience, my dear
What I have lost today?
Your agreement and concentration
on the matter of misplacement
For the art of losing isn’t hard to master
Take in the seas, the land, and the rivers
They’re here today but gone tomorrow
For your vision is cloudy and hazy so
Only I can decide what to loose
And at this moment
That is you
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