Looking up at the stars, I know quite wellThat, 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
2 comments:
AH!! Auden!!!
You so made my day!!
'If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.'
I have pored through these lines ever since I came across them and I still buzz from their denotations and connotations...and the whole meaning of the poem.
I also love 'In Memory of WB Yeats'...especially these lines.
'In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.'
So yes, Hoopoe, may we be the more loving ones... :)
Auden - the genious behind uncouth honesty, yet with direct simplicity - it touches and tears the heart apart all at once ... only Auden have that ability.
Post a Comment