feature of mirror. from poem mirror.
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The poem ‘Mirror’ is an autobiographical account of mirror, highlighting its qualities. It reflects how a woman is disappointed and frustrated to see her gradually fading beauty and youth. It symbolizes the eternal truth of old age and loss of beauty in the course of life. The mirror is real and shining. It is unbiased. It shows what comes to it. It is a monologue of the protagonist Mirror who is free of any preconceptions and prejudice. It is not distorted by emotions of love or hatred as human beings do.
GIST OF THE POEM:
(Lines 1-4)
The mirror in the poem symbolizes the eternal truth of life. It is real and shining. It is silver in colour and appears perfectly smooth. It does not judge others with pre-conceived ideas like human beings. It does not have any pre-decided ideas and doesn’t get affected by love or dislike. It has no feelings, emotions and preferences. It reflects exact what comes to it. It shows the person’s accurate image from any kind of distortion. Since mirror is exact, truthful and objective, it may appear as unfeeling and cruel, though it is not so.
(Lines 5-9)
The mirror says that it is above any kind of personal feeling. It is like God, who sees the truth and views everything from all corners of the world. It is something mystic and divine, above the ordinary and the worldly. So, like God, the mirror looks at everything with equal eye. Most of the time, it keeps thinking about the opposite wall which is pink and has on it. It has grown passionate about it and now it has begun to think of the wall as a part of its heart, here it means that it has become an integral part of its being, consciousness and existence. The wall flickers i.e. its view shakes and dims with changes in the shades of light. The mirror’s view of the wall is interrupted by the people’s faces and the darkness when they stand between the mirror and the wall.
(Line 10-13)
The mirror says that sometimes it is in the form of a lake, and when the woman looks into the mirror, the memories of life flash across her mind as both deeply (lake and mirror) reveal her true identity as a person. She attempts to see her flaws behind the darkness. The illusion created by the reflection of candles and the moon makes her appear beautiful and different from what she really is (old and ugly). But the mirror reflects her image truthfully without any bias.
(Lines 14-18)
The true (ugly and old) image as reflected by the mirror makes the woman ‘frustrated and depressed. She cries and throws her hands in agitation and despair. She is ageing but it is difficult for her to accept the natural process of ageing. She comes and stands in front of the mirror every morning; it is her face that replaces the darkness. She misses her youth and beauty. She is no longer charming as she was in her youth. She feels insecure and insignificant. She feels, she has become very ugly. The loss of her youth and beauty makes her behave like a fish out of water or a terrible fish trapped in the pond of time.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE
The poem deals with the varied qualities of mirror – exactness, truthfulness and its relationship with the human beings (here the old woman) for years together. The whole poem revolves around the mirror. Hence, the title is quite apt and appropriate. The poem conveys strong message to humans- rather than living in the world of illusion, we need to change our thinking and attitude. We need to learn to face and accept the reality of life without indulging in too much of self-pity.
GIST OF THE POEM:
(Lines 1-4)
The mirror in the poem symbolizes the eternal truth of life. It is real and shining. It is silver in colour and appears perfectly smooth. It does not judge others with pre-conceived ideas like human beings. It does not have any pre-decided ideas and doesn’t get affected by love or dislike. It has no feelings, emotions and preferences. It reflects exact what comes to it. It shows the person’s accurate image from any kind of distortion. Since mirror is exact, truthful and objective, it may appear as unfeeling and cruel, though it is not so.
(Lines 5-9)
The mirror says that it is above any kind of personal feeling. It is like God, who sees the truth and views everything from all corners of the world. It is something mystic and divine, above the ordinary and the worldly. So, like God, the mirror looks at everything with equal eye. Most of the time, it keeps thinking about the opposite wall which is pink and has on it. It has grown passionate about it and now it has begun to think of the wall as a part of its heart, here it means that it has become an integral part of its being, consciousness and existence. The wall flickers i.e. its view shakes and dims with changes in the shades of light. The mirror’s view of the wall is interrupted by the people’s faces and the darkness when they stand between the mirror and the wall.
(Line 10-13)
The mirror says that sometimes it is in the form of a lake, and when the woman looks into the mirror, the memories of life flash across her mind as both deeply (lake and mirror) reveal her true identity as a person. She attempts to see her flaws behind the darkness. The illusion created by the reflection of candles and the moon makes her appear beautiful and different from what she really is (old and ugly). But the mirror reflects her image truthfully without any bias.
(Lines 14-18)
The true (ugly and old) image as reflected by the mirror makes the woman ‘frustrated and depressed. She cries and throws her hands in agitation and despair. She is ageing but it is difficult for her to accept the natural process of ageing. She comes and stands in front of the mirror every morning; it is her face that replaces the darkness. She misses her youth and beauty. She is no longer charming as she was in her youth. She feels insecure and insignificant. She feels, she has become very ugly. The loss of her youth and beauty makes her behave like a fish out of water or a terrible fish trapped in the pond of time.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE
The poem deals with the varied qualities of mirror – exactness, truthfulness and its relationship with the human beings (here the old woman) for years together. The whole poem revolves around the mirror. Hence, the title is quite apt and appropriate. The poem conveys strong message to humans- rather than living in the world of illusion, we need to change our thinking and attitude. We need to learn to face and accept the reality of life without indulging in too much of self-pity.
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