The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
-- Speaker (Line 1)

Importance: This line introduces “One Art” and is significant because it is the primary refrain and theme of the poem. It is the speaker’s first declaration, and becomes the speaker’s mantra which is repeated four times throughout the poem as she strives to convince herself that life’s losses, while often difficult, are survivable. It is also significant in its ironic description of “losing” as a form of “art.”

So many things seem filled with the intent / to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
-- Speaker (Lines 2 – 3)

Importance: In these lines, which appear early on in the poem’s first stanza, the speaker casually and almost humorously suggests that some objects seem to intend to be lost. Imbuing the lost items with active intention, rather than describing them as passive objects which someone might lose, makes losing these things seem a natural...