The More Loving One
E519959
"The More Loving One" is a reflective lyric poem by W. H. Auden that meditates on unrequited love and the human capacity to care for an indifferent universe.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
lyric poem
ⓘ
poem ⓘ |
| attitudeToLove | acknowledges pain but affirms capacity to love ⓘ |
| author | W. H. Auden NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| authorNationality | British-American ⓘ |
| centralContrast | the more loving person vs. the less loving one ⓘ |
| closingLine | “I should learn to look at an empty sky / And feel its total dark sublime, / Though this might take me a little time.” ⓘ |
| exploresEmotion |
austere acceptance
ⓘ
jealousy ⓘ longing ⓘ resignation ⓘ |
| firstPersonSpeaker | yes ⓘ |
| form | lyric ⓘ |
| genre | lyric poetry ⓘ |
| imagery |
astronomical imagery
ⓘ
stars as symbols of indifference ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| literaryDevice |
hyperbole
ⓘ
irony ⓘ metaphor ⓘ paradox ⓘ personification of the stars ⓘ |
| literaryPeriod | 20th-century poetry ⓘ |
| meter | accentual-syllabic verse ⓘ |
| narrativePerspective | lyric “I” addressing the stars ⓘ |
| nationalLiterature | British literature ⓘ |
| openingLine | “Looking up at the stars, I know quite well” ⓘ |
| philosophicalConcern |
how to live with unreturned love
ⓘ
how to respond to an indifferent cosmos ⓘ |
| questionAddressed |
how to endure emotional imbalance in love
ⓘ
whether it is better to be the more loving one ⓘ |
| rhymeScheme | regular rhyme scheme ⓘ |
| stylisticFeature |
colloquial diction combined with philosophical reflection
ⓘ
ironic understatement ⓘ logical, argumentative progression of stanzas ⓘ |
| subjectMatter |
relationship between human feeling and the stars
ⓘ
speaker’s love for an unresponsive beloved ⓘ |
| theme |
acceptance of emotional pain
ⓘ
cosmic perspective on personal feeling ⓘ emotional asymmetry in relationships ⓘ existential reflection ⓘ human capacity for love ⓘ indifference of the universe ⓘ unrequited love ⓘ |
| tone |
meditative
ⓘ
philosophical ⓘ reflective ⓘ wry ⓘ |
| writer | W. H. Auden NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.