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.
w.h auden, the more loving one.
I just love auden. This poem is very simple, and expressing so much. This poem is a recognition of unrequited love, and an acceptance of being the person who is 'more loving'. The imagery of the stars serves the purpose of highlighting the sheer unattainability of unrequited love, like the stars there is an unscalable separation and distance between the person who is in love, and the person who does not love back.
The pain that the speaker feels in unrequited love is something that he would not wish on anyone else, be it star or person. 'How should we like it,' he asks, 'were stars to burn with a passion for us we could not return?'. I hurts to be the more loving one, but then, it is not something that the speaker would wish onto anyone else.
I just love the last stanza though. It is a recognition that life does go on, even if we are the more loving one. It is a small comfort post-broken heart that it is not the end of the world. Should love dry up, we can learn to look on the 'empty sky' and see its 'dark sublime'.
But, as the speaker interjects with a sense of sad finality, 'this might take a little more time'.
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