Culture
MLB Power Rankings: Royals, Padres shake up top 10; Our picks for each team’s MVP
By Tim Britton, Chad Jennings and Kaitlyn McGrath
Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.
All right, enough fooling around. There are less than three weeks left in the regular season, and these games are starting to carry real weight and significance. These wins and losses really mean something.
The Mets got red-hot last week to stay very much in the hunt. The Royals swept the Twins over the weekend to take control of a wild-card spot. The Red Sox failed to sweep the White Sox — after being swept by the Mets — and the Diamondbacks narrowly avoided being swept by the Astros, affecting the bottom of each league’s playoff race.
It’s mid-September, and it’s time for Power Rankings to carry that same sense of urgency and importance.
We did this back in April, when it was way too early and a just-for-fun kind of thing. This time, we mean it.
Each team’s MVP. Go!
Record: 86-58
Last Power Ranking: 1
One-month MVP: Mookie Betts
Five-month MVP: Shohei Ohtani
Is Ohtani the frontrunner for National League MVP right now? We’d put the chances at, oh, something like 50/50? As in, once he gets to 50 homers and 50 steals, the race might as well be over. A year after Ronald Acuña Jr. made history as the sport’s first 40/70 player, Ohtani is doing something even more remarkable. And he’s doing it for a Dodgers team confronted with an unexpected amount of adversity. Los Angeles lost Betts and Max Muncy for significant stretches and Freddie Freeman for a shorter one. Its rotation still requires sorting out. (Ohtani can’t help there until next year.) But as usual, LA is still at the top of the NL — because Ohtani is the NL’s best hitter. — Tim Britton
Record: 86-58
Last Power Ranking: 2
One-month MVP: Ranger Suárez
Five-month MVP: Zack Wheeler
At what point does — or did — Wheeler become the most reliable starting arm in baseball? The guy you trust most to give you 30 starts and 200 quality innings or take the ball in a big game? Wheeler’s in year five of sparkling results for the Phillies, and hasn’t hit the injured list since 2022. That’s despite big innings counts in consecutive Octobers.
Wheeler has been the leader of the National League’s best rotation. Aaron Nola has rebounded from a down 2023 while lefties Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez have bloomed into front-end starters. Philadelphia has built its playoff runs the last two autumns on its stars; it has more depth now. — Britton
Record: 83-61
Last Power Ranking: 3
One-month MVP: Juan Soto
Five-month MVP: Aaron Judge
Judge already has one of the 30-highest WAR seasons of all time, and he may soon have another. As measured by FanGraphs WAR, this season may surpass Judge’s 2022 when he finished with 11.1 WAR (21st all-time among position players). It seems inevitable he will at least reach double-digit WAR this season. He leads the majors in home runs, walks, RBIs and OPS. In almost any other season, Soto’s tremendous year would be a shoo-in for team MVP, but the distinction belongs to Judge without question. — Chad Jennings
Record: 82-61
Last Power Ranking: 4
One-month MVP: Brice Turang
Five-month MVP: Willy Adames
As the Brewers cruise to an NL Central title and position themselves as the team to watch out for in October, they can credit a few noteworthy performances in helping them get there. Turang had a strong first half but faded in the second half. Meanwhile, rookie Jackson Chourio has done the reverse and has used an impressive second half to vault himself into the NL Rookie of the Year conversation. William Contreras has been a constant behind the plate and leads the team in OPS, but ever-so-slightly edging him out for team MVP is Adames, who has a team-leading 30 home runs – including 13 three-run home runs, tying Ken Griffey Jr. for the most in a single season. Adames had played all 143 games this season at shortstop and, as Cody Stavenhagen wrote, he is the team’s “emotional catalyst.” — Kaitlyn McGrath
Record: 82-63
Last Power Ranking: 5
One-month MVP: Gunnar Henderson
Five-month MVP: Gunnar Henderson
Corbin Burnes has been the experienced ace the Orioles needed. Colton Cowser is having a fantastic rookie season and is a favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year. Anthony Santander is on pace to hit a career-best 40 home runs. But, four months later, it’s still Henderson who remains the Orioles MVP. He leads the club in 7.3 fWAR and has hit a career-high 36 home runs. His odds of winning the AL MVP may have slipped since April, as Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. have emerged as heavy favorites, but Henderson has been the Orioles’ most consistent hitter this season. — McGrath
Most home runs by an @Orioles shortstop in a single season:
Gunnar Henderson: 35 (2024)
Miguel Tejada: 34 (2004)
Cal Ripken Jr.: 34 (1991) pic.twitter.com/CmHqo4pQM3— MLB (@MLB) September 4, 2024
Record: 81-64
Last Power Ranking: 8
One-month MVP: Dylan Cease
Five-month MVP: Jurickson Profar
It’s like we all expected at the start of the season: On a roster with Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Fernando Tatis Jr., the five-month MVP really comes down to Jackson Merrill or Profar. A team that looked like it had zero outfielders at the start of spring training has instead boasted two of the very best in the NL this season, and Profar gets the edge here thanks to the consistency of his late-game heroics.
Remember last season for San Diego? When the Padres posted one of the strangest offensive seasons in memory, thanks to their utter inability to come through in the clutch? Well, Profar has been the most clutch hitter in baseball this season, with the sport’s best OPS in high-leverage moments. He ranks behind only Aaron Judge in win probability added. He was released by the Rockies last season! This sport is incredible. — Britton
Record: 82-62
Last Power Ranking: 7
One-month MVP: Steven Kwan
Five-month MVP: José Ramírez
Kwan and Josh Naylor have been great, and Emmanuel Clase is the best reliever in the game, and Tanner Bibee has lifted a rotation that badly needed the help. But let’s not overthink this. Ramírez is one of the game’s great players, and he’s proving it again this season with a frankly typical year that will end with his fifth straight top-10 MVP finish. In fact, it will probably be his sixth-ever top-six MVP finish. Ramírez turns 32 later this month and is signed through 2028, meaning he has time to make a real case for Cooperstown when all’s said and done. — Jennings
GO DEEPER
Does a rough second half matter in October? Some World Series hopefuls might want to look away
Record: 80-64
Last Power Ranking: 6
One-month MVP: Ketel Marte
Five-month MVP: Ketel Marte
As the Diamondbacks clawed their way back into contention, Marte helped by having a legitimate MVP-esque season before he injured his left ankle on Aug. 18 and landed on the IL. At the time of his injury, Marte ranked fourth in the NL with a 5.4 fWAR, per MLB.com, and was hitting .298 with 30 home runs. After being sidelined for about three weeks, he returned to the lineup last Friday, but even with the time missed, he still leads the Diamondbacks in fWAR, home runs and OPS. Ohtani is pulling away as the NL MVP favorite, but Marte could still finish as a finalist. More importantly, his return helps a D-Backs team eager to play spoiler in October once again. — McGrath
Record: 79-66
Last Power Ranking: 11
One-month MVP: Bobby Witt Jr.
Five-month MVP: Bobby Witt Jr.
If it were possible to merge Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Brady Singer and Michael Wacha into one player, the Royals’ team MVP … might still be Witt. The top of the team’s rotation has been excellent, with Ragans and Lugo providing especially valuable (and unexpected) impact, but Witt is doing something historic. He might not win the AL MVP because of Aaron Judge but he’s making it a close race by delivering perhaps the greatest season by a shortstop since Honus Wagner (or, at the very least, the greatest season by a shortstop since Lou Boudreau or Cal Ripken Jr.). — Jennings
Record: 78-66
Last Power Ranking: 10
One-month MVP: Marcell Ozuna
Five-month MVP: Chris Sale
Ozuna hasn’t really slowed down, and he’s been the linchpin to a stunningly makeshift lineup for Atlanta. But the choice here is still Sale, who might just be having the best year of his career. In case you forgot, Sale earned Cy Young votes in each of his first seven seasons as a starter, but never won the award. He hasn’t received any votes over the last five years, when he made 56 total starts. But Alex Anthopoulos’ gamble to acquire Sale — and to double-down by extending him shortly after — has blossomed into one of the offseason’s best moves. With Spencer Strider out and Max Fried uncharacteristically inconsistent, and on an Atlanta team in an absolute fight for the postseason, Sale has been an anchor and the best pitcher in the National League. — Britton
Record: 77-66
Last Power Ranking: 9
One-month MVP: Jose Altuve
Five-month MVP: Yordan Alvarez
Step 1: Go ahead and type Altuve’s name into the five-month slot. Step 2: Look up the stats that surely will show Altuve has remained the Astros’ team MVP. Step 3: Realize just how good Alvarez has been. Step 4: Type Alvarez’s name instead. Seriously, this guy has been one of the five best hitters in baseball while playing about a third of his games in left field. And he’s been at his best in the second half, when the Astros have pulled themselves into a firm lead in the AL West. Altuve is awesome, Framber Valdez and Ronel Blanco have been great, but Alvarez is the Astros’ MVP. — Jennings
Record: 79-65
Last Power Ranking: 13
One-month MVP: Reed Garrett
Five-month MVP: Francisco Lindor
Not only was Lindor not the Mets’ MVP in April, but you could make a case that Lindor was one of the sport’s worst hitters then, ending the month with a .197 batting average. Since then, thanks to his two-way brilliance, he’s been unquestionably the best player in the National League. His OPS is right around .900 since the start of May and he’s played elite defense at shortstop, catalyzing New York’s own about-face in the standings. Lindor’s move to the leadoff spot sparked an offensive revival, and he has found himself in a number of crucial late-game moments. He’s also started all but one game this season.
Once 11 games under .500, the Mets have been the majors’ best team since June 3 and a legitimate contender not only to get to October, but to do something when there. —Britton
GO DEEPER
From grand slams to stretch outs: Looking at each MLB team’s best and worst stat
Record: 76-68
Last Power Ranking: 12
One-month MVP: Edouard Julien
Five-month MVP: Griffin Jax
It was hard to pin down a Twins MVP. After his strong start, Julien spent the season shuffling between the major and minor leagues. Carlos Correa had an MVP first half but hasn’t played since the All-Star break. Bryon Buxton and Royce Lewis have also been on and off the IL all season. Joe Ryan had been having a nice season until an injury ended his year. That leaves Jax, who has been a constant for Minnesota. Jax has a career-best 2.01 ERA with 81 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings. He’s tied his career-best mark in holds with 23 and has eight saves this season. It’s been an uneven season for the Twins, filled with injuries, but at least Jax has been a reliable arm out of the pen. — McGrath
Record: 73-71
Last Power Ranking: 17
One-month MVP: Logan Gilbert
Five-month MVP: Logan Gilbert
What was true in April remains true five months later: The Mariners have a very good rotation, led by Gilbert. The 27-year-old right-hander was a first-time All-Star and leads the Mariners with 185 2/3 innings pitched, a 3.15 ERA and 4.1 fWAR. Unfortunately, this also remains true: The Mariners have a flawed lineup, resulting in a free fall that saw them squander a 10-game lead in the AL West and eventually led to the firing of their manager. If the Mariners miss the postseason, we’ll look back on their season and bemoan how they let their subpar offense waste a rotation seemingly built for playoff success. — McGrath
Record: 74-70
Last Power Ranking: 14
One-month MVP: Shota Imanaga
Five-month MVP: Shota Imanaga
Imanaga placed the cherry on top of his sterling rookie campaign with seven innings in Chicago’s combined no-hitter against the Pirates. A team’s record behind an individual starter can occasionally be misleading — check out Jacob deGrom, 2018-2019 for a trip — but the Cubs’ 20-6 mark with Imanaga on the mound is the best for any starter in baseball. The left-hander should receive down-ballot Cy Young consideration for a season that, right now, includes more than 150 innings, a sub-3.00 ERA and a league-leading strikeout-to-walk ratio. With better play lately, the Cubs may match or exceed their 83 wins from last season. But that doesn’t look to be nearly as close to the postseason in a tougher National League. — Britton
Record: 73-71
Last Power Ranking: 16
One-month MVP: Tarik Skubal
Five-month MVP: Tarik Skubal
It’s always hard to compare pitchers and hitters, and there’s no universal agreement about what to do with pitchers on an MVP ballot. But even in an MVP race loaded with elite seasons, Skubal is sure to get some down-ballot votes in the American League. He’s the favorite for Cy Young and ranks eighth in the league in fWAR. Left fielder Riley Greene has had an excellent season and would be a fine team MVP, but it’s Skubal who’s really been the best player on the Tigers. — Jennings
GO DEEPER
Top 50 MLB prospects: Two Tigers lead off while Bazzana cracks Top 5 of Bowden’s rankings
Record: 73-71
Last Power Ranking: 15
One-month MVP: Tanner Houck
Five-month MVP: Jarren Duran
Duran was a seventh-round pick who quickly became a top-100 prospect but then struggled for two years to establish himself in the big leagues. He began to find his footing last season, but he’s reached unforeseen heights this year. He’s the first player ever to record 40 doubles, 30 stolen bases, 20 home runs and 10 triples in a season. He’s already been named All-Star Game MVP, and at season’s end, Duran may very well finish top five in a crowded and elite race for American League MVP. — Jennings
Record: 72-71
Last Power Ranking: 18
One-month MVP: Sonny Gray
Five-month MVP: Masyn Winn
While Gray has remained St. Louis’ best starting pitcher, Winn has emerged as the Cardinals’ most reliable position player — partly the result of his excellent first full season in the majors and partly the result of injuries to Willson Contreras and underperformance from Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. Winn has avoided the deep slumps that often hinder rookies and produced at above a league-average clip with the bat while bringing Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop. In a season that has again posed questions about the long-term direction in St. Louis, there are zero queries about who’s playing short for the next decade. — Britton
Record: 71-73
Last Power Ranking: 20
One-month MVP: Isaac Paredes
Five-month MVP: Brandon Lowe
Paredes still leads the team in WAR, but he’s been playing for the Chicago Cubs since the trade deadline, so there’s not really a slam dunk team MVP for the disappointing Rays. None of their pitchers performed up to their usual standards, and top prospect Junior Caminero’s been with them less than a month (though he’s been quite good). Jose Siri and Jose Caballero have been excellent defenders but neither has hit a ton. Lowe, though, is a good fit for this label. He missed time with an injury (again), but he’s been the Rays’ best hitter for much of the season and he’s a link to the team’s past success. — Jennings
Record: 71-73
Last Power Ranking: 19
One-month MVP: Logan Webb
Five-month MVP: Matt Chapman
When in doubt, go with the guy who just signed the $150 million contract extension. That probably reveals how the team feels about him, no? Not that there really was doubt here: Chapman is delivering his best all-around season since maybe 2019 in Oakland, when he finished sixth in the MVP balloting. He’s as terrific as ever at the hot corner, and his offense has rebounded after flat-lining in the final five months of the 2023 season with the Blue Jays. That’s star-level performance for a franchise that had struck out hunting it on the open market in recent years. So it’s no surprise they went wherever necessary to keep Chapman in the Bay through 2030. — Britton
Record: 70-74
Last Power Ranking: 22
One-month MVP: Marcus Semien
Five-month MVP: Corey Seager
He hasn’t been quite as good as he was last year (when he finished second in AL MVP voting), but Seager’s had another really nice season reminiscent of his early seasons with the Dodgers. There should be space on a Rangers MVP ballot, though, for Josh Smith, Kirby Yates and David Robertson, all of whom provided tremendous impact beyond what was probably expected heading into the year. If more Rangers had followed their lead, the team might actually have a chance to defend its title. — Jennings
Record: 70-75
Last Power Ranking: 23
One-month MVP: Elly De La Cruz
Five-month MVP: Elly De La Cruz
As a team, the Reds didn’t take the step forward into contention as was expected this season. Still, individually, De La Cruz has established himself as one of the game’s most exciting young players to watch. At 6.2 fWAR, he’s been worth more than double any other position player on the Reds. As of Monday, he led his team in home runs (23), OPS (.820) and he leads his team — and the majors — in stolen bases with 62. That’s 16 more than Ohtani, who is second in stolen bases with 46. As the Reds look to improve ahead of next season and try to return to the postseason, the goal will be finding a way to build around De La Cruz further. — McGrath
Elly De La Cruz shows off the range to take away a hit. 😎 pic.twitter.com/NA7w74N2Cc
— MLB (@MLB) September 8, 2024
Record: 68-77
Last Power Ranking: 21
One-month MVP: Jose Berrios
Five-month MVP: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
At the end of April, Guerrero was hitting .229/.331/.347 with a 100 wRC+ and there were serious questions about whether he could ever replicate the near-MVP season in 2021. But since May 1, Guerrero has slashed .350/.414/.611 with 186 wRC+ and 25 home runs. (Stats don’t include Monday’s game). Only Aaron Judge — likely to be a finalist for AL MVP — has a higher wRC+ in that same span. Even after a slow first month, there is no question Guerrero has been the Blue Jays’ MVP this season, and he has also re-established himself in the upper echelon of the game’s best hitters. The Blue Jays have been relegated to postseason spoiler — they’ve had a direct hand in the NL wild-card race with back-to-back series against the Braves and Mets — but at least Guerrero has given fans something to cheer for. — McGrath
Record: 68-76
Last Power Ranking: 24
One-month MVP: Jared Jones
Five-month MVP: Paul Skenes
Skenes couldn’t have been the Pirates’ MVP after the first month because he wasn’t yet in the majors. The rookie didn’t get called up until early May. But he made up for lost time. His 3.3 fWAR co-leads the Pirates alongside Oneil Cruz and his 2.13 ERA leads Pirates pitchers. In fact, among pitchers with at least 110 innings pitched, his ERA ranks second and his 32 percent strikeout rate ranks fourth. Skenes has been fantastic, but Jones is having a solid season in his own right, despite missing a month with a lat strain with a 3.91 ERA in 18 starts. Skenes is in the mix for NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards – and while he may not be the favorite for those honors, he is the runaway Pirates’ MVP. — McGrath
Record: 64-79
Last Power Ranking: 26
One-month MVP: CJ Abrams
Five-month MVP: Luis García Jr.
While sympathetic to the argument that MacKenzie Gore has had a better season than García, we’re going with the second baseman because of what it means moving forward. Gore had already shown he could be a major-league-capable starting pitcher. García’s long-term role on a rebuilding roster was very much up for debate entering 2024, and he’s now solidified another important position for a team gradually checking the boxes for a return to relevance. Still just 24, García’s hit for more power this season and turned in a borderline top-five offensive season for second basemen in the league. That’s helped mitigate the disappointment of Abrams’ step back since April, with the shortstop tripping a little bit in his leap to star status. — Britton
Record: 62-82
Last Power Ranking: 25
One-month MVP: Mason Miller
Five-month MVP: Brent Rooker
If a DH can win the MVP in the National League — which Ohtani might do — then surely a DH can be the MVP of the Oakland A’s. Miller, J.J. Bleday, and Lawrence Butler have been really good, and Shea Langeliers has shown serious pop, but Rooker has been one of the best hitters in the majors. By wRC+, he meaningfully trails only Judge and Soto, he’s basically tied with Witt, and he’s been better than Ohtani, Guerrero or Ozuna. — Jennings
Record: 60-84
Last Power Ranking: 27
One-month MVP: Mike Trout
Five-month MVP: Zach Neto
If you stopped paying attention to this team in April, you’d probably expect Trout to remain the team MVP, but we’ve got some bad news for you. If you stopped paying attention to this team at the deadline, you’d probably expect it to be Tyler Anderson, Taylor Ward or Luis Rengifo — all of whom generated a ton of trade speculation. But 23-year-old Neto has been excellent in the second half, giving him the team lead in WAR. The team’s first-round pick in 2022 has been one of the few Angels’ bright spots in an otherwise bleak season. — Jennings
Record: 54-90
Last Power Ranking: 28
One-month MVP: Trevor Rogers
Five-month MVP: Jake Burger
Even though Rogers is a member of the Norfolk Tides now, it’s possible he’s got an even stronger case as the Marlins’ 2024 MVP; trading Rogers away is how Miami landed Connor Norby and Kyle Stowers from Baltimore. On the other hand, Burger has rebounded from a rough start at the plate; at one point, he socked 16 homers in 33 games. The Marlins will need the better Burger next year for all 162. — Britton
Record: 54-90
Last Power Ranking: 29
One-month MVP: Brenton Doyle
Five-month MVP: Brenton Doyle
It may be another familiar last-place finish for the Rockies this year, but there has been a lot to like about Doyle’s sophomore season. The center fielder cut down his 35 percent strikeout rate from last year to a more manageable 26.6 percent while also improving his walk rate to eight percent. He’s more than doubled his home run total from last year, hitting 22 compared to just 10 last year. Meanwhile, defensively, he’s remained one of the game’s best defensive outfielders and ranks third among all center fielders in Outs Above Average with 13. He leads the Rockies with 3.8 fWAR and easily qualifies as the team’s MVP. — McGrath
Record: 33-112
Last Power Ranking: 30
One-month MVP: Campfire Milkshake
Five-month MVP: N/A
After one month, as the White Sox stumbled to a 6-23 start, it was cute to name a decadent chocolate milkshake as their MVP. At the time, it was the main attraction drawing crowds to the field, while the woeful South Siders played in the background. But beyond the gag, it was a clear signal that there might not be much to cheer about. That has indeed been the case as the club has already set a franchise record for losses in a season and is on pace for a 124-loss season which would break the MLB record for losses, eclipsing the 1962 Mets, who went 40-120. Yes, it’s all very, very bad, which is why we’ve chosen to abstain from naming a White Sox MVP. Not even a delicious milkshake can salvage this season. — McGrath
(Top photo of Bobby Witt Jr.: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)
Maybe you woke up this morning haunted by the first four lines of W.H. Auden’s “The More Loving One” — or tickled by its tongue-in-cheek handling of existential dread. (Not ringing any bells? Click here to begin the Poetry Challenge).
This is a love poem. Perhaps that seems like an obvious thing to say about a poem with “Loving” in its title, but there isn’t much romance in the opening stanza.
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
Ada Limón, poet
Nonetheless, the poem soon makes clear that love is very much on its mind.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
David Sedaris, writer
The polished informality gives the impression of a decidedly cerebral speaker — someone who’s looking at love philosophically, thinking about how it works and what it means.
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Reginald Dwayne Betts, poet
Musing this way — arguing in this fashion — he stands in a long line of playful, thoughtful poetic lovers going back at least to the 16th century. He sounds a bit like Christopher Marlowe’s passionate shepherd:
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
Auden’s poem, like Marlowe’s, is written in four-beat lines:
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
Josh Radnor, actor
And it features strong end rhymes:
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Samantha Harvey, writer
These tetrameter couplets represent a long-established poetic love language. Not too serious or sappy, but with room for both earnestness and whimsy. And even for professions of the opposite of love, as in this nursery rhyme, adapted from a 17th-century epigram:
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell
The reason why I cannot tell.
But this I know and know full well
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.
There is some of this anti-love spirit in Auden’s poem too, but it mainly follows a general rule of love poetry: The person speaking is usually the more loving one.
This makes sense. To write a poem requires effort, art, inspiration. To speak in verse is to tease, to cajole, to seduce, all actions that suggest an excess of desire. That’s why it’s conventional to refer to the “I” in a poem like this as the Lover and the “you” as the Beloved. The line “Let the more loving one be me” could summarize a lot of the love poetry of the last few thousand years.
But who, in this case, is the beloved? This isn’t a poem to the stars, but about them. Or maybe a poem that uses the stars as a conceit and our complicated feelings about them as a screen for other difficult emotions.
What the stars have to do with love is a tricky question. The answer may just be that the poem assumes a relationship and then plays with the implications of its assumption.
This kind of play also has a long history. Since love is both abstract and susceptible to cliché, poets are eager to liken it to everything else under the sun: birds, bees, planets, stars, the movement of the tides and the cycle of the seasons. Andrew Marvell’s “Definition of Love,” from the 1600s, wraps its ardor in math:
As lines, so loves oblique may well
Themselves in every angle greet;
But ours so truly parallel,
Though infinite, can never meet.
The literary term for this is wit. The formidable 18th-century English wordsmith Samuel Johnson defined a type of wit as “a combination of dissimilar images, or discovery of occult resemblances in things apparently unlike.” “The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together,” he wrote; that kind of conceptual discord defines “The More Loving One.”
The second stanza is, when you think about it, a perfect non sequitur. A hypothetical, general question is asked:
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
Mary Roach, writer
The answer is a personal declaration that is moving because it doesn’t seem to apply only or primarily to stars:
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Tim Egan, writer
Does this disjunction make it easier or harder to remember? Either way, these couplets start to reveal just how curious this poem is. We might find ourselves curious about who wrote them, and whom he might have loved. Tomorrow we’ll get to know Auden and his work a little better.
Play a game to learn it by heart. Need more practice? Listen to Ada Limón, Matthew McConaughey, W.H. Auden and others recite our poem.
Question 1/6
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
Tap a word above to fill in the highlighted blank.
Your task today: Learn the second stanza!
Let’s start with the first couplet in this stanza. Fill in the rhyming words.
Ready for another round? Try your hand at the 2025 Poetry Challenge.
Edited by Gregory Cowles, Alicia DeSantis and Nick Donofrio. Additional editing by Emily Eakin,
Joumana Khatib, Emma Lumeij and Miguel Salazar. Design and development by Umi Syam. Additional
game design by Eden Weingart. Video editing by Meg Felling. Photo editing by Erica Ackerberg.
Illustration art direction by Tala Safie.
Illustrations by Daniel Barreto.
Text and audio recording of “The More Loving One,” by W.H. Auden, copyright © by the Estate of
W.H. Auden. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Photograph accompanying Auden recording
from Imagno/Getty Images.
Literature
Oedipa Maas from ‘The Crying of Lot 49’ (1966) by Thomas Pynchon
“The unforgettable, cartoonish protagonist of this unusually short novel is a California housewife accidentally turned private investigator and literary interpreter, and the mystery she’s attempting to solve — or, more specifically, the conspiracy she stumbles upon — is nothing less than capitalism itself,” says Ngai, 54. “As Oedipa traces connections between various crackpots, the novel highlights the peculiarly asocial sociality of postwar U.S. society, which gets figured as a network of alienations.”
Sula Peace from ‘Sula’ (1973) by Toni Morrison
“Sula arguably begins to disappear as soon as she’s introduced — despite the fact that the novel bears her name. Other characters die quickly, or are noticeably flat. This raises the politically charged question of who gets to ‘develop’ or be a protagonist in American novels and who doesn’t. The novel’s unusual character system is part of its meditation on anti-Black racism and historical violence.”
The speaker of ‘Lunch Poems’ (1964) by Frank O’Hara
“Lyric poems are fundamentally different from narrative fiction in part because they have speakers as opposed to narrators. Perhaps it’s a stretch to nominate the speaker of ‘Lunch Poems’ as a main character, but this book changed things by highlighting the centrality of queer counterpublics to U.S. culture as a whole, and by exploring the joys and risks of everyday intimacy with strangers therein.”
This interview has been edited and condensed.
More in Literature
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Let’s memorize a poem! Not because it’s good for us or because we think we should, but because it’s 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 — or even, as you’ll see, the universe — has shifted a bit.
Over the next five days, we’ll look closely at a great poem by one of our favorite poets, and we’ll 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’s not too late to embark. The ticket is still valid.)
This time, we’re training our telescopes on W.H. Auden’s “The More Loving One” — a clever, compact meditation on love, disappointment and the night sky.
Here’s the first of its four stanzas, read for us by Matthew McConaughey:
The More Loving One
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
Matthew McConaughey, actor and poet
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 — that the stars are distant; that life can be dangerous — 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.
Here’s Tracy K. Smith, a former U.S. poet laureate, with the second stanza:
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.
Tracy K. Smith, poet
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’t like this at all.
This certainty leads him to a remarkable confession, a moment of startling vulnerability. The poem’s title, “The More Loving One,” is restated with sweet, disarming frankness. Our friend is wearing his heart on his well-tailored sleeve.
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.
But the third stanza takes it all back. Here’s Alison Bechdel reading it:
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.
Alison Bechdel, graphic novelist
The speaker downgrades his foolish devotion to qualified admiration. No sooner has he established himself as “the more loving one” than he gives us — and perhaps himself — reason to doubt his ardor. He likes the stars fine, he guesses, but not so much as to think about them when they aren’t around.
The fourth and final stanza, read by Yiyun Li, takes this disenchantment even further:
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.
Yiyun Li, author
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.
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’t care that your baby left you is usually saying the opposite.
The last line puts a brave face on heartbreak.
So there you have it. In just 16 lines, this poem manages to be somber and funny, transparent and elusive. But there’s more to it than that. There is, for one thing, a voice — a thinking, feeling person behind those lines.
When he wrote “The More Loving One,” 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.
Its structure is straightforward and ingenious. Each of the four stanzas is virtually a poem unto itself — 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.
This makes the work of memorization seem less daunting. We can take “The More Loving One” one epigram at a time, marvelling at how the four add up to something stranger, deeper and more complex than might first appear.
So let’s go back to the beginning and try to memorize that insouciant, knowing first stanza. Below you’ll find a game we made to get you started. Give it a shot, and come back tomorrow for more!
Play a game to learn it by heart. Need more practice? Listen to Ada Limón, Matthew McConaughey, W.H. Auden and others recite our poem.
Question 1/6
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
Tap a word above to fill in the highlighted blank.
Your first task: Learn the first four lines!
Let’s start with the first couplet. Fill in the rhyming words.
Monday
Love, the cosmos and everything in between, all in 16 lines.
Tuesday (Available tomorrow)
What’s love got to do with it?
Wednesday (Available April 22)
How to write about love? Be a little heartsick (and the best poet of your time).
Thursday (Available April 23)
Are we alone in the universe? Does it matter?
Friday (Available April 24)
You did it! You’re a star.
Ready for another round? Try your hand at the 2025 Poetry Challenge.
Edited by Gregory Cowles, Alicia DeSantis and Nick Donofrio. Additional editing by Emily Eakin,
Joumana Khatib, Emma Lumeij and Miguel Salazar. Design and development by Umi Syam. Additional
game design by Eden Weingart. Video editing by Meg Felling. Photo editing by Erica Ackerberg.
Illustration art direction by Tala Safie.
Illustrations by Daniel Barreto.
Text and audio recording of “The More Loving One,” by W.H. Auden, copyright © by the Estate of
W.H. Auden. Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Photograph accompanying Auden recording
from Imagno/Getty Images.
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