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One Art Memory and the Past Quotes
(stanza.line)
| Then practice losing farther, losing faster: |
Here, loss is re-defined not only as the loss of objects or even time, but of memory itself.
| I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three loved houses went. (4.10-11) |
These curious statements lead us to wonder what significance these objects, which are no longer random, but rather very specific, have for the poet.
| I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster. (5.15) |
We’re not sure how the poet lost these places; if she misses them, does that mean she still remembers them? Why might they be inaccessible to her?
| – Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture |
For the first time, we see specific things mentioned that the poet remembers and cherishes, implying that she hasn’t really gotten over this loss – nor has she fully mastered the art of losing.
