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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ALONE (1), by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Each lover has a theory of his own Alternate Author Name(s): Auden, W. H. | |||
Each lover has a theory of his own About the difference between the ache Of being with his love, and being alone: Why what, when dreaming, is dear flesh and bone That really stirs the senses, when awake, Appears a simulacrum of his own. Narcissus disbelieves in the unknown; He cannot join his image in the lake So long as he assumes he is alone. The child, the waterfall, the fire, the stone, Are always up to miscief, though, and take The universe for granted as their own. The elderly, like Proust, are always prone To think of love as a subjective fake; The more they love, the more they feel alone. Whatever view we hold, it must be shown Why every lover has a wish to make Some other kind of otherness his own: Perhaps, in fact, we never are alone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NIGHTFALL (1) by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN BACH AND THE LADY by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN BETWEEN ADVENTURE by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN WHO'S WHO by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN THIS LOVED ONE by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN |
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