The More Loving One Flashcards
Stars.
“Looking up at the stars, I know quite well”
“Looking up at the stars, I know quite well”
The stars are a classic metaphor for love and also a symbol. The ending of this line is the first of a rhyming couplet allows us to understand that the narrative of this poem is personal and so can be trusted. From this we can determine that this poem is for a lover, one of which Auden admires.
Hell.
“for all they care, I can go to hell,”
“for all they care, I can go to hell,”
The stars do not have any say on what happens to Auden nor is he being looked after by some devine being within the stars. Auden ends the rhyming couplet with a sock. Considering the tone of admiration in the first line to now one of dismissal and hatred we find a different understanding of the poems addressee. Instead we begin to envision that this is an unrequited love, one that Auden does in fact admire but does not feel it reciprocated. The word choice here ties in with the life Auden lived in the 1930’s, he was a gay man for whom couldn’t be particularly open about any love for a man. This suggests that the addressee, possibly a man, does not feel the same as Auden and does not care for him and due to the stigmatism around homosexuality during this time, does not care if the worst happens to him.
Beast.
“We have to dread from man or beast.”
“We have to dread from man or beast.”
Humanity are merely mortal and so have to fend for themselves but Auden’s word choice of “dread” has fearful connotations which then sets up what the end of the stanza states. This is another end to a couplet which then emphasises the worry that we have to face for ourselves. There is also animalistic connotations in the word “beast” and therefore suggests what limits we are actually capable of reaching when it comes to cruelty and behaving around and towards one another.
Burn.
“How should we like it were the stars to burn”
“How should we like it were the stars to burn”
There is an uncertainty from Auden, that if this predicament were to change, if the stars acted different, would it challenge the cosmos. The stars represent unreachable beauty and so deepens our understand that this is unrequited love. Still, the beginning of this couplet reminds us that even if this love is unrequited, it may still be intensely passionate on Auden’s behalf.
Passion.
“With a passion for us we could not return?”
“With a passion for us we could not return?”
The use of “passion” reasserts the purpose of this poem and where its focus lies and lines us up for a shocking end to the line in the stanza. There is further challenge portrayed within this poem through the continuation of the rhyming couplets on top of the sentence structure. Auden questions whether it is better to receive unrequited love or to be the giving it.
Me.
“Let the more loving one be me.”
“Let the more loving one be me.”
Auden decides in the final line of the second stanza that he would prefer to the one who is giving love that is unrequited. There is a final embracing of love, love that Auden continues to feel and embrace for his own sake, regardless of whether it is reciprocated or not. The form and structure throughout this poem continues to be ever-important.
Damn.
“Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,”
“Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,”
There is a further personal tone in this poem with the word “admirer”, further solidifying the understanding that the addressee is someone admired by Auden and so extending the metaphor of the stars. The subtlety of the uncertainty is highlighted and reconnected with the quintessential idea that the stars are romantic symbols and so suggests that Auden is fully captivated by this person. Auden uses an uncaring tone and through his word choice solidifies the idea that this love is indefinitely unrequited and that this person does not care for him.
Miss.
“I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.”
