The More Loving One

Portrait of W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden 1907–1973

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.

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Daniel Wattier24 words
  1. Joh Grimbaldeston

    Crap poem, I mean it doesn't rhyme or anything. Is "copyright holder" a metaphor? Bloody obscure!

  2. Daniel Wattier United States

    Joh, the poem does infact rhyme. Maybe you are confusing it with another poem. But either way, great poetry does not have to rhyme.

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