26 pages 52 minutes read

Elizabeth Bishop

One Art

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1976

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Symbols & Motifs

Mother’s Watch

Elizabeth Bishop loses her mother’s watch in “One Art.” Though she casually admits this, the in-text loss is symbolic of real-world loss. Bishop’s maternal grandparents raised her when, at five years old, her mother entered a mental institution. Because Bishop never spent much time with her mother, losing her mother’s watch is symbolic of losing the little time she did spend with her mother. It’s also symbolic of losing the one item representing her mother in life.

Further, as earlier noted, the “watch” mentioned here may have not been literal, but a nod to the “watch” a parent has over a child. Bishop’s mother was not able to “watch” nor care for her daughter upon institutionalization. Therefore, the symbol of the watch may have more than one meaning.

A Continent

Bishop’s lover, the architect Lota Soares, committed suicide while the couple lived in Brazil. After this loss, Bishop returned to the US. “One Art” mentions losing places, rivers, and a continent, suggesting Bishop’s loss of her home in South America. By mentioning losing rivers and an entire continent, Bishop uses what sounds like hyperbole to explain a personal loss in an objective manner.

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