Comments on: This makes less sense http://mindofwinter.org/2003/11/12/this-makes-less-sense/ A forum for discussing poems and poetry Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:55:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Michael http://mindofwinter.org/2003/11/12/this-makes-less-sense/#comment-9 Michael Sun, 16 Nov 2003 22:08:43 +0000 http://mindofwinter.org/2003/11/12/this-makes-less-sense/#comment-9 There's nothing necessarily cynical (in any sense of the word) in casting away our silly crotchets and fancies about the mystical qualities of the stars! A star-filled sky can be quite beautiful and comforting, even knowing that they're all just giant nuclear furnaces. The destruction of myth needn't destroy the metaphor; we can read your question in Auden's poem without mourning the loss of our faith. As for what's left when the stars are gone---some may see the void itself as a painful reminder of what was lost, and some may see a blank slate ripe for a new mythology. I'm hopeful that I haven't exhausted the possibilities, though. There’s nothing necessarily cynical (in any sense of the word) in casting away our silly crotchets and fancies about the mystical qualities of the stars! A star-filled sky can be quite beautiful and comforting, even knowing that they’re all just giant nuclear furnaces. The destruction of myth needn’t destroy the metaphor; we can read your question in Auden’s poem without mourning the loss of our faith.

As for what’s left when the stars are gone—some may see the void itself as a painful reminder of what was lost, and some may see a blank slate ripe for a new mythology. I’m hopeful that I haven’t exhausted the possibilities, though.

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