In this poem, Bishop's use of language creates a tongue-in-cheek appraisal of lost love, time and chances. The beginning of the second stanza mimicks the tone of a self help guide, turning to address the reader in such a fashion causing it to sound lauding and ironic. 'And look!' in the third stanza gives echoes of a magicians show in addition to this. However, the tone does shift in the final stanza by creating a different kind of address to the reader. The short dash creates a suspension at the beginning, the equivalent of an intake of breath before turning remorsefully to the subject of the romance. The aside of '(Write it!)' suggests the difficulty the narrative voice has in wording how their love has been lost. All in all, the poem instills a humourous tone but underlined with remorse for lost love.