Freedom

While the poem appears on the surface to be a short account of a narrator's relationship with stars and willingness to wear their heart on their sleeve, the protagonist's quest for freedom is central to the work. In the first stanza, the imagery of a star receiving human love and responding with indifference evokes the emotional pain of yearning for reciprocal love and not receiving it—a shared human experience. Rather than retreat and reserve their true self for when mutual affection is assured, the speaker does not shy away from being the more loving one.

Love

The concept of love is complex within the poem because it is both an intrinsic feeling and something that can be rationalized and explained. It raises an interesting question for readers: does the narrator's acknowledgement that they will love again or find a way to love the sky without...