Elizabeth Bishop loses her mother’s watch in “One Art.” Though she casually admits this, the in-text loss is symbolic of real-world loss. Bishop’s maternal grandparents raised her when, at five years old, her mother entered a mental institution. Because Bishop never spent much time with her mother, losing her mother’s watch is symbolic of losing the little time she did spend with her mother. It’s also symbolic of losing the one item representing her mother in life.

Further, as earlier noted, the “watch” mentioned here may have not been literal, but a nod to the “watch” a parent has over a child. Bishop’s mother was not able to “watch” nor care for her daughter upon institutionalization. Therefore, the symbol of the watch may have more than one meaning.