"The More Loving One" is British poet W.H. Auden's wry, complex reflection on the indifference of the universe and the value of love. Gazing at the night sky, the poem's speaker understands that the stars "do not give a damn" about humanity and its feelings. On reflection, however, the speaker feels it's still worthwhile to be "the more loving one" in this unbalanced relationship: the person who loves the stars (or an "indifferen[t]" lover, for that matter) at least gets to experience love, and to make meaning from meaninglessness. This poem was first collected in Auden's 1960 book Homage to Clio.

• Read the full text of “The More Loving One”

• “The More Loving One” Summary

• “The More Loving One” Themes

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    The Pain and Beauty of Unrequited Love

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16
  • 

    Meaning and Meaninglessness

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The More Loving One”

  • Lines 1-4

    Looking up at ...
    ... man or beast.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    How should we ...
    ... one be me.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    Admirer as I ...
    ... terribly all day.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    Were all stars ...
    ... a little time.

    

    

    

    

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• “The More Loving One” Symbols

  • 

    The Stars

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 5-6
    • Lines 9-10
    • Lines 13-15

• “The More Loving One” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Looking up at the stars, I know quite well / That, for all they care, I can go to hell,”
    • Lines 5-6: “How should we like it were stars to burn / With a passion for us we could not return?”
    • Line 10: “stars that do not give a damn”

  • Understatement

    

    

    

    

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    Where understatement appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “But on earth indifference is the least / We have to dread from man or beast.”
    • Line 16: “Though this might take me a little time.”

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “How should we like it were stars to burn / With a passion for us we could not return?”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-16

• “The More Loving One” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Indifference
  • Sublime
  • (Location in poem: Lines 3-4: “But on earth indifference is the least / We have to dread”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The More Loving One”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The More Loving One” Speaker

• “The More Loving One” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The More Loving One”

• More “The More Loving One” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to Auden reading this poem aloud in his wonderful laconic voice.

    • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Auden in a short biography from the Poetry Foundation.

    • Auden's Legacy — Visit the Auden Society's website to learn what contemporary scholars are saying and thinking about Auden.

    • A Celebration of Auden — Listen to a radio program about Auden in which he reads from his collected works.

    • An Interview with Auden — Read an interview with Auden and learn more about his poetic philosophy (and his sense of humor).

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by W. H. Auden

    • As I Walked Out One Evening

    • Epitaph on a Tyrant

    • Funeral Blues (Stop all the clocks)

    • In Memory of W. B. Yeats

    • Lullaby

    • Musée des Beaux Arts

    • Partition

    • Refugee Blues

    • September 1, 1939

    • The Capital

    • The Shield of Achilles

    • The Unknown Citizen

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