One Art

I'm trying not to let my opinions on each poem influence my decision on which uses the form the best, but alas, that is proving difficult. "Do Not go Gentle into that Good Night" seemed to use the villanelle as a very strict template, while the other two took more liberties in changing it up a bit. The form of the villanelle states that the "third line of the first stanza serves as the last line of the third and fifth stanzas." "Do Not go Gentle into that Good Night" does this exactly, while the other two switch the lines up each time, so that they use the same base words, but the meaning has changed slightly. To me, this seems to be the way that would use the form most creatively, if not at least effectively. It puts an interesting twist to a form that could become boring, as "Do Not go Gentle into that Good Night" did. 

It may be because it was my favorite of the three, but I do think that "One Art" was the most effective with the villanelle form. There was a progression with the meaning of the poem by changing up the last lines of the third and fifth stanzas. It first changes to "None of these will bring disaster" in the third stanza, and then to "I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster" in the fifth. It was more refreshing to read for the audience to have a slightly different meaning each time. We hear from the speaker how she has learned not to miss things she's lost too terribly. These end lines tell the reader about this. She admits to us that she misses these things, but she will be alright. True to the villanelle form, it also blatantly speaks about loss, almost too obviously, but not quite. Elizabeth Bishop keeps a bit of subtlety to it somehow. Enough that it balances out. Enough that it makes it my favorite of the three.