A look at love - 1
"The More Loving One" by W.H. Auden (1957) is a poem that explores the true nature of unrequited love and the human experience of finding meaning in a seemingly indifferent universe. The speaker uses the metaphor of the stars, which are indifferent to humanity, to represent a relationship where affection is not equal. The poem concludes that even if love is not returned, it is better to be the one who loves more, as it allows for a deeper experience of love and the ability to find meaning in the world.
[media=https://youtu.be/EXdeHucf4X0]
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
[media=https://youtu.be/xwiFPv2UN6E]
In the first stanza, Auden establishes his extended metaphor of stars as lovers in the first two lines. He writes, “Looking up at the stars, I know quite well/That, for all they care, I can go to hell…” The speaker is informing his reader from the very beginning that he knows just by looking at his lover that the emotions he feels for him or her are not returned. Additionally, the unrequited lover is so indifferent that he or she does not care about the fate of the speaker. Auden finishes the stanza in lines three and four: “But on earth indifference is the least/We have to dread from man or beast.” Here, Auden is perhaps insinuating that he would rather his lover feel indifference toward him as opposed to the contrary, which could be hatred or love that goes unrequited by him.
Auden continues this theme into the second stanza, which opens with a question to the reader. He writes, “How should we like it were stars to burn/With a passion for us we could not return?” He seems to be asking his reader which would be better: To be loved and not loved in return, or to be the one who is on the other end, who does not reciprocate the love of one’s suitor? The speaker answers the question for his reader in lines seven and eight: “If equal affection cannot be,/Let the more loving one be me.” According to the speaker and Auden, it is better to be the one who loves as opposed to the one who does not.
In the third stanza, the tone shifts slightly, and the speaker recognizes that love is fleeting and impermanent, where all four lines of the stanza complete one thought. Here, the speaker acknowledges that what he currently feels for his lover is not something that will always be. He does not feel so strongly that he will be unable to live without them, and he even admits that when he sees them, he does not feel as though he has missed them while they have been away.
Auden continues with this idea in the fourth and final stanza. The speaker admits that if his lover, again represented as stars, were to go away or die, he would learn to not only get over that person, but also to feel their absence as “sublime.” He recognizes, however, that this would not happen overnight. Instead, it would take some time to get over the receiver of his love
[media=https://youtu.be/gvezOvM_VgQ]
[media=https://youtu.be/EXdeHucf4X0]
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
[media=https://youtu.be/xwiFPv2UN6E]
In the first stanza, Auden establishes his extended metaphor of stars as lovers in the first two lines. He writes, “Looking up at the stars, I know quite well/That, for all they care, I can go to hell…” The speaker is informing his reader from the very beginning that he knows just by looking at his lover that the emotions he feels for him or her are not returned. Additionally, the unrequited lover is so indifferent that he or she does not care about the fate of the speaker. Auden finishes the stanza in lines three and four: “But on earth indifference is the least/We have to dread from man or beast.” Here, Auden is perhaps insinuating that he would rather his lover feel indifference toward him as opposed to the contrary, which could be hatred or love that goes unrequited by him.
Auden continues this theme into the second stanza, which opens with a question to the reader. He writes, “How should we like it were stars to burn/With a passion for us we could not return?” He seems to be asking his reader which would be better: To be loved and not loved in return, or to be the one who is on the other end, who does not reciprocate the love of one’s suitor? The speaker answers the question for his reader in lines seven and eight: “If equal affection cannot be,/Let the more loving one be me.” According to the speaker and Auden, it is better to be the one who loves as opposed to the one who does not.
In the third stanza, the tone shifts slightly, and the speaker recognizes that love is fleeting and impermanent, where all four lines of the stanza complete one thought. Here, the speaker acknowledges that what he currently feels for his lover is not something that will always be. He does not feel so strongly that he will be unable to live without them, and he even admits that when he sees them, he does not feel as though he has missed them while they have been away.
Auden continues with this idea in the fourth and final stanza. The speaker admits that if his lover, again represented as stars, were to go away or die, he would learn to not only get over that person, but also to feel their absence as “sublime.” He recognizes, however, that this would not happen overnight. Instead, it would take some time to get over the receiver of his love
[media=https://youtu.be/gvezOvM_VgQ]
