Song Meaning
This song grapples with the paradoxical nature of love, presenting it not as a simple emotion but as a complex, almost elemental force. The opening lines immediately establish a sense of bewilderment, using contrasting comparisons to define love's elusive qualities. It's 'more thicker than forget' yet 'thinner than recall,' suggesting a presence that's hard to grasp but impossible to erase entirely. The narrator uses a series of seemingly contradictory statements, like love being 'less seldom than a wave is wet,' to emphasize its constant, inherent nature.
The core tension lies in love's ability to transcend conventional understanding and even existence itself. The chorus declares love is 'most mad and moonly,' hinting at its irrational, cyclical, and perhaps even lunar-influenced power. This is amplified by the assertion that love 'shall unbe / Than all the sea which only / Is deeper than the sea,' a profound statement suggesting love's depth surpasses even the vastness of the ocean, implying a reality beyond our comprehension.
The bridge continues this exploration of love's immeasurable qualities, framing it through a series of negations and comparisons to fundamental states. Love is 'less than to win' but 'less never than alive,' indicating it's more fundamental than victory but essential to existence. The most striking comparison is 'less littler than forgive,' positioning love as something even more profound and foundational than the act of forgiveness itself.
Ultimately, the lyrics suggest love is an infinite, self-sustaining entity. The second chorus shifts to 'most sane and sunly,' offering a counterpoint to the earlier 'moonly' description, perhaps indicating love's dual nature of both wildness and clarity. The final assertion, 'more it cannot die / Than all the sky which only / Is higher than the sky,' solidifies love's eternal and boundless essence, presenting it as a force that dwarfs even the most expansive concepts we have, like the sky itself.