How does Elizabeth Bishop create a tone that is both serious and amusing in One Art?

In this poem, Bishop's use of language creates a tongue-in-cheek appraisal of lost love, time and chances. The beginning of the second stanza mimicks the tone of a self help guide, turning to address the reader in such a fashion causing it to sound lauding and ironic. 'And look!' in the third stanza gives echoes of a magicians show in addition to this. However, the tone does shift in the final stanza by creating a different kind of address to the reader. The short dash creates a suspension at the beginning, the equivalent of an intake of breath before turning remorsefully to the subject of the romance. The aside of ​​​​​​'(Write it!)' suggests the difficulty the narrative voice has in wording how their love has been lost. All in all, the poem instills a humourous tone but underlined with remorse for lost love.

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Answered by Iwan M. English Literature tutor

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