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The meter of “One Art” closely approximates iambic pentameter, which is one of the traditional meters for the villanelle form. Recall that an iamb is a metrical foot consisting of one unstressed and one stressed syllable, as in the word “in-tent.” Hence, iambic pentameter refers to a line that has five iambs. Although the poem’s underlying rhythm is basically iambic, Bishop manipulates the meter in different ways throughout. As an example, consider the opening tercet (lines 1–3):

     The art | of los- | ing is- | n’t hard | to mas- | ter;
     so man- | y things | seem filled | with the | in-tent
     to be | lost that | their loss | is no | dis-as- | ter.

Of these lines, only the second exhibits perfect iambic pentameter. The first line also consists of five iambs, but it includes an extra unstressed syllable at the end. The technical name for such a line is hypercatalectic (HY-per-CAT-uh-LECK-tick). The third line is also hypercatalectic since it too has an extra unstressed syllable at the end. Additionally, the third line features a trochee in the second foot. A trochee is a metrical foot that reverses the stress pattern of the iamb, and so consists of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. Though minor, these deviations from iambic pentameter noticeably disrupt the poem’s overall rhythm. Such disruptions signal to the reader that the speaker may not have mastered the art of losing quite as well as they imply.

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