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April 20, 2026 
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Each day this week, the Book Review will present a new essay, game and series of celebrity readings designed to help you memorize a delightful poem. Today, our critic at large A.O. Scott sets the mood with a poem of his own.
A poem is just what we need
To lift us through this week, to feed
Our appetite for art and fun
In anxious days. We’ve found the one.
It’s sixteen lines by Wystan Hugh
Auden (or “W. H.” to you)
That muse on love, the cosmos, time
And more in faultless, witty rhyme.
“The More Loving One”: We hope you’ll try
To learn it between now and Fri-
Day. We’re here to help—it’ll be a breeze—
With games, quizzes and celebrities.
Read these stanzas and you’ll find
They shift and deepen in your mind.
A well-made poem is the opp-
Osite of algorithmic slop.
And Wystan (IMHO) was the GOAT.
I’ll leave you with a sample quote:
“If equal affection cannot be
Let the more loving one be me.”
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THE POETRY CHALLENGE: DAY 1 |
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