{"id":742414,"date":"2026-04-21T05:34:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T05:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/742414\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T05:34:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T05:34:29","slug":"poetry-challenge-memorize-the-more-loving-one-by-w-h-auden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/742414\/","title":{"rendered":"Poetry Challenge: Memorize \u201cThe More Loving One\u201d by W.H. Auden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Poetry Challenge<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s learn one poem together this week. <\/a> <\/p>\n

The Poetry Challenge<\/p>\n

See Full Poem & Readings Play Game <\/p>\n

\"A.O.<\/a>\"Aliza<\/a> <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s memorize a poem! Not because it\u2019s good for us or because we think we should, but because it\u2019s fun, a mental challenge with a solid aesthetic reward. You can amuse yourself, impress your friends and maybe discover that your way of thinking about the world \u2014 or even, as you\u2019ll see, the universe \u2014 has shifted a bit.<\/p>\n

Over the next five days, we\u2019ll look closely at a great poem by one of our favorite poets, and we\u2019ll have games, readings and lots of encouragement to help you learn it by heart. Some of you know how this works: Last year more Times readers than we could count memorized a jaunty 18-line recap of an all-night ferry ride. (If you missed that adventure, it\u2019s not too late to embark. The ticket is still valid<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

This time, we\u2019re training our telescopes on W.H. Auden\u2019s \u201cThe More Loving One\u201d \u2014 a clever, compact meditation on love, disappointment and the night sky.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the first of its four stanzas, read for us by Matthew McConaughey:<\/p>\n

The\u00a0More\u00a0Loving\u00a0One\u00a0by\u00a0W.H.\u00a0Auden\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking\u00a0up\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0stars,\u00a0I\u00a0know\u00a0quite\u00a0well\u00a0<\/p>\n

That,\u00a0for\u00a0all\u00a0they\u00a0care,\u00a0I\u00a0can\u00a0go\u00a0to\u00a0hell,\u00a0<\/p>\n

But\u00a0on\u00a0earth\u00a0indifference\u00a0is\u00a0the\u00a0least\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u00a0have\u00a0to\u00a0dread\u00a0from\u00a0man\u00a0or\u00a0beast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew McConaughey, actor and poet
Watch his full reading<\/p>\n

In four short lines we get a brisk, cynical tour of the universe: hell and the heavens, people and animals, coldness and cruelty. Commonplace observations \u2014 that the stars are distant; that life can be dangerous \u2014 are wound into a charming, provocative insight. The tone is conversational, mixing decorum and mild profanity in a manner that makes it a pleasure to keep reading.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Tracy K. Smith, a former U.S. poet laureate, with the second stanza:<\/p>\n

How\u00a0should\u00a0we\u00a0like\u00a0it\u00a0were\u00a0stars\u00a0to\u00a0burn\u00a0<\/p>\n

With\u00a0a\u00a0passion\u00a0for\u00a0us\u00a0we\u00a0could\u00a0not\u00a0return?\u00a0<\/p>\n

If\u00a0equal\u00a0affection\u00a0cannot\u00a0be,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u00a0the\u00a0more\u00a0loving\u00a0one\u00a0be\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tracy K. Smith, poet
Watch her full reading<\/p>\n

These lines abruptly shift the focus from astronomy to love, from the universal to the personal. Imagine how it would feel if the stars had massive, unrequited crushes on us! The speaker, couching his skepticism in a coy, hypothetical question, seems certain that we wouldn\u2019t like this at all.<\/p>\n

This certainty leads him to a remarkable confession, a moment of startling vulnerability. The poem\u2019s title, \u201cThe More Loving One,\u201d is restated with sweet, disarming frankness. Our friend is wearing his heart on his well-tailored sleeve.<\/p>\n

The poem could end right there: two stanzas, point and counterpoint, about how we appreciate the stars in spite of their indifference because we would rather love than be loved.<\/p>\n

But the third stanza takes it all back. Here\u2019s Alison Bechdel reading it:<\/p>\n

Admirer\u00a0as\u00a0I\u00a0think\u00a0I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of\u00a0stars\u00a0that\u00a0do\u00a0not\u00a0give\u00a0a\u00a0damn,\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0cannot,\u00a0now\u00a0I\u00a0see\u00a0them,\u00a0say\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0missed\u00a0one\u00a0terribly\u00a0all\u00a0day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alison Bechdel, graphic novelist
Watch her full reading<\/p>\n

The speaker downgrades his foolish devotion to qualified admiration. No sooner has he established himself as \u201cthe more loving one\u201d than he gives us \u2014 and perhaps himself \u2014 reason to doubt his ardor. He likes the stars fine, he guesses, but not so much as to think about them when they aren\u2019t around.<\/p>\n

The fourth and final stanza, read by Yiyun Li, takes this disenchantment even further:<\/p>\n

Were\u00a0all\u00a0stars\u00a0to\u00a0disappear\u00a0or\u00a0die,\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00a0should\u00a0learn\u00a0to\u00a0look\u00a0at\u00a0an\u00a0empty\u00a0sky\u00a0<\/p>\n

And\u00a0feel\u00a0its\u00a0total\u00a0dark\u00a0sublime,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though\u00a0this\u00a0might\u00a0take\u00a0me\u00a0a\u00a0little\u00a0time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yiyun Li, writer
Watch her full reading<\/p>\n

Wounded defiance gives way to a more rueful, resigned state of mind. If the universe were to snuff out its lights entirely, the speaker reckons he would find beauty in the void. A starless sky would make him just as happy.<\/p>\n

Though perhaps, like so many spurned lovers before and after, he protests a little too much. Every fan of popular music knows that a song about how you don\u2019t care that your baby left you is usually saying the opposite.<\/p>\n

The last line puts a brave face on heartbreak.<\/p>\n

So there you have it. In just 16 lines, this poem manages to be somber and funny, transparent and elusive. But there\u2019s more to it than that. There is, for one thing, a voice \u2014 a thinking, feeling person behind those lines.<\/p>\n

W.H. Auden in 1962. Sam Falk\/The New York Times<\/p>\n

When he wrote \u201cThe More Loving One,\u201d in the 1950s, Wystan Hugh Auden was among the most beloved writers in the English-speaking world. Before this week is over there will be more to say about Auden, but like most poets he would have preferred that we give our primary attention to the poem.<\/p>\n

Its structure is straightforward and ingenious. Each of the four stanzas is virtually a poem unto itself \u2014 a complete thought expressed in one or two sentences tied up in a neat pair of couplets. Every quatrain is a concise, witty observation: what literary scholars call an epigram.<\/p>\n

This makes the work of memorization seem less daunting. We can take \u201cThe More Loving One\u201d one epigram at a time, marvelling at how the four add up to something stranger, deeper and more complex than might first appear.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s go back to the beginning and try to memorize that insouciant, knowing first stanza. Below you\u2019ll find a game we made to get you started. Give it a shot, and come back tomorrow for more!<\/p>\n

Your first task: Learn the first four lines! <\/p>\n

Play a game to learn it by heart. Need more practice? Listen to Ada Lim\u00f3n, Matthew McConaughey, W.H. Auden and others recite our poem.<\/p>\n

\"Ada\"Matthew\"W.H. Watch their full readings <\/p>\n

Question 1\/6<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the first couplet. Fill in the rhyming words. <\/p>\n

Looking\u00a0up\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0stars,\u00a0I\u00a0know\u00a0quite\u00a0well\u00a0<\/p>\n

That,\u00a0for\u00a0all\u00a0they\u00a0care,\u00a0I\u00a0can\u00a0go\u00a0to\u00a0hell,\u00a0<\/p>\n

forthatlooking<\/p>\n

hellwell<\/p>\n

Tap a word above to fill in the highlighted blank.<\/p>\n

THE POETRY CHALLENGE<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss tomorrow\u2019s installment. <\/p>\n

Sign up below for the Book Review newsletter, and we\u2019ll make sure you get the next activity tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n

Ready for another round? Try your hand at the 2025 Poetry Challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Edited by Gregory Cowles, Alicia DeSantis and Nick Donofrio. Additional editing by Emily Eakin,
\n\tJoumana Khatib, Emma Lumeij and Miguel Salazar. Design and development by Umi Syam. Additional
\n\tgame design by Eden Weingart. Video editing by Meg Felling. Photo editing by Erica Ackerberg.
\n\tIllustration art direction by Tala Safie.<\/p>\n

Illustrations by Daniel Barreto.<\/p>\n

Text and audio recording of \u201cThe More Loving One,\u201d by W.H. Auden, copyright \u00a9 by the Estate of
\n\tW.H. Auden. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Photograph accompanying Auden recording
\n\tfrom Imagno\/Getty Images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Poetry Challenge Let\u2019s learn one poem together this week. The Poetry Challenge See Full Poem & Readings…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":742415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,306088,36029,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,306087,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,10901,306090,306089],"class_list":["post-742414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-auden","tag-books-and-literature","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-poetry-and-poets","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-vis-design","tag-writing-and-writers","tag-wystan-hugh"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116441073078211458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}