The Sadness of Loss in Langston Hughes' Poem Harlem and One Art by Elizabeth Bishop

Loss can be defined as a means of losing someone or something, typically leaving an individual with a feeling of uncertainty. Elizabeth Bishop and Langston Hughes both published poetry within the same time period. Although completely different people they both experienced tremendous events of loss in their lives. Bishop and Hughes both conveyed their thoughts and feelings through poetry using art as a form of grieving for themselves. Both Bishop and Hughes associated their sadness with creativity. Specifically the poems “One Art” (Elizabeth Bishop) and

“Harlem” (Langston Hughes), exhibits a nostalgia of when times were meant to be simpler. This signifying loss as being a non-disaster (a reference to “One Art”) and racial oppression (a reference to “Harlem”) implicating dreams being deterred. These two poets deal with the theme of loss in their poems by reflecting examples or feeling from their own experiences. They use similar techniques to provoke the reader to accept this interpretation of what loss means and to, therefore, make the individual comply. To adhere with Bishop’s and Langston's perception of loss is to agree that loss is a crisis that is unavoidable but can be lived through.

Loss is bittersweet. Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art” denies any differences between losses using an ironic tone in this villanelle poem of nineteen lines. “One Art” is also part autobiographical and reflects some of Bishop’s real-life losses. As the poem begins it says “The art of losing isn’t hard to master;” (line one) comparing loss as art that an individual will practice throughout their lifetime. As the poem begins she describes losses in a humorous way that most human beings do with small losses such as door keys. Although, as the poem progresses it evolves in a way that implicates how time in real life progresses (your life begins with small losses and as you grow older those losses become more historic).

Elizabeth Bishop experienced intense loss from a young age when her father died and then shortly after her mother was committed to a mental asylum. Comparing lines eight and nine “places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster.” to lines thirteen and fourteen, “I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.” expose how Bishop effortlessly implicates her advice to the reader that no matter the size of the loss they are all the same, loss is only filling an expectation it is not a disaster. Bishop uses many techniques such as inserting long vowel sounds which subconsciously allows the reader to link emotion to what Bishop is saying. By embedding a rhyme scheme within the poem she allows for a peaceful continuous tone. Bishop repeats line three, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” as well as emphasizing “loss is no disaster” (line 3) to persuade the reader that often when an individual has lost something important we get flustered and view it as a disaster when in reality it is not, it is just life.

“Harlem” a free verse poem written by Langston Hughes deals with the theme of loss. Hughes was a key person in literature during the Harlem Renaissance, a time where African American writers bloomed. Hughes’ poem “Harlem” was comparable to an anthem for African Americans during this period of time. Hughes used techniques in his literature that conveyed favourable and inadequate images of Harlem, he supplemented the genre of “blues” into his writings. Hughes, just like Elizabeth Bishop, had his fair share of what he could describe as historical losses. He wanted his literature to express racial identification and freedom. Hughes was part of a revolution established how African Americans thought and talked about themselves, specifically in Harlem. In the poem “Harlem” line one, “What happens to a dream deferred?” the word “Dream” is meant to depict the American dream. Hughes wants the reader to consider the context of when this poem was written (during the 1950’s).

Even though African Americans were considered equal in the eyes of the law, culturally they were continued to be racially oppressed by society. Their dreams were suspended because culturally African Americans could not attain everything a white man could. The dreamers suffered extensive loss. “Raisin in the sun” (line three) creates images of darker skin toned individuals. Hughes along with many other individuals were frustrated by oppression. The technique of using descriptive words such as “festering” and “rotten meat” characterizes what individuals felt like underneath their surface layers. Dictation such as “Crust over” or “Sag” described the way people commonly reacted, masking how they really felt with a smile (crusting over) and giving in without asking for change (sagging). The last line in Hughes poem “Or does it explode” implies a disaster occurring from this loss. After a build-up of these historic casualties among an individual or a collective do people look it as something to be upset about or do they look at it as just destiny. Is a dream deferred a loss that can be lived through?

Prominently in “One Art” and “Harlem” the theme of loss is illustrated. Elizabeth Bishop and Langston Hughes both know that experience means more when writing poems. When writing as a result of unhappiness, the mind is allowed to go to deeper places granting different techniques for the writer to use in concepts such as tone. Therefore authorizing them to coax the reader into feeling emotion. For both Bishop and Hughes, these poems constructed their feelings and memories of loss into wonderful, educational pieces of art.

Both poems included metaphors and similes to compare loss to a relatable idea making these ideas more animated for the reader. Formality in the structure of these poems (even though one poem is villanelle and the other is free verse) convey a sense of wisdom yet personal pain.

The theme of loss is associated with Bishops and Hughes memories that may also frequently be experienced by other individuals. For example in “One Art” line ten “I lost my mother’s watch. And Look!..” demonstrates a memory of Bishop’s that stood out in time to her because it felt like a tremendous loss to her, loss of inheritance from a loved one. In spite of this event, she advised herself in the following line twelve, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master.” Thus signifying a message that it is no more than anything else she has lost, she had done it many times before. Hughes on the other hand, in his poem “Harlem” it is illustrated that from his own experience during extreme times of racial oppression and segregation, he experienced individuals and collectives postponing their dreams, (potentially identifying his own dreams) and covering it up with mask until eventually exploding. Hughes also demonstrates in his poem “Harlem” just like in Elizabeth Bishop's poem “One Art” that these so-called losses though seem like disaster are still lived through to the present day.

In conclusion, loss is an is conveyed through many forms of art. Elizabeth Bishop and Langston Hughes chose to show the interpretation of accounts of loss through being creative by composing poems such as “One Art” and “Harlem.” There are specific reasonings for poets to use techniques for instance dictation, rhyme schemes, repetition, use of vowels and consonants, that lead the reader to certain emotions which may result in persuasion to specific belief. Bishops persuaded herself and potentially her readers to believe a loss is never a disaster simply destiny. Hughes pursued his readers to consider what happens to dreams deferred. These specific poems with the explicit theme of loss, reveal how any loss historic or materialistic are just facts of life.