Mirror

BY SYLVIA PLATH

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful ‚
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,

Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

“Mirror” Summary
The poem is told from the perspective of a mirror, who starts by describing itself physically as silver-
colored and precise. The mirror insists it has no predetermined notions or assumptions about anything,
and instead simply takes in whatever stands in front of it right away, exactly the way it is, unclouded by
any feelings. The mirror isn't mean or harsh, but simply honest. It's like a small god's eye, only with four
corners. For the most part, the mirror focuses on the pink, speckled wall that stands across from it. The
mirror has been staring at this wall for so long that it thinks the wall is in fact an essential part of itself. At
the same time, that wall goes in and out of focus as people and darkness pass in front of it—and into the
mirror's line of sight—again and again.

The mirror becomes the reflective surface of a lake over which a woman leans, looking intently into the
water's depths for some hint of who she is inside. Not finding it, she directs her attention to the candle she
holds or the moon—sources of light that she thinks must be lying to her by not showing her who she
really is. The mirror watches the woman's back as she walks away, and reflects it accurately. The woman
thanks the mirror by crying and wringing her hands in distress. The mirror knows that it matters a lot to
this woman, who comes back to look into it time and again. Every day starts with the woman's face taking
the place of the darkness that the mirror reflected all night. The young girl she once was will never look
back at her again, having been metaphorically drowned in the mirror. Instead, as the days go by she sees
only the old woman she has become approaching her like an awful fish.

Summary

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The “life” of a mirror owned by a woman recapping what it is seeing and what he has seen. The
monotony of the day to day occurrences set the scene for the poem and the plain and sagacious way of
speaking because of this we see that the mirror seems to be quite old. It recalls the woman who seems to
be the owner searching the mirror to find herself as she is now an old woman who has spent time in the
mirror since she was a young woman and now seems to be going through a crisis trying to accept the
image of herself in the mirror as she is now. She finds alternative ways to view herself but she is unable
to come to terms with aging is trying to grasp at her youth as her perception of her now old self causes her
grief.

Stanza by stanza analysis

Stanza 1:

The poem's speaker is a personified mirror. This becomes clear in the first line, when the speaker says, "I
am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions." This description immediately lets readers know that the
speaker is a literal mirror while also establishing the voice of this mirror, which is direct and
straightforward.

This straightforward tone makes sense, as the mirror goes on to say that it "swallow[s] immediately"
whatever stands in front of it, consuming it "just as it is." In other words, the mirror isn't capable of
embellishment or misdirection—to exaggerate or conceal certain details would go against its very nature.
This is because the mirror has no feelings of its own. It is able to provide an "exact" reflection that is
untainted by "love or dislike." Unlike a person, the mirror doesn't project feelings onto what it sees. It has
no purpose other than to show what is there.

The poem begins with the mirror explaining what he is and sets the scene for it being a truthful and
reliable albeit monochromatic character. The first stanza is very slow-paced and calm as we go through
the day to day “life” of the mirror as it is a personified thing.

“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately” the mirror gives
no judgment but instead shows exactly what it sees.
When the poet says, “I have no preconceptions,” he means that the mirror is absolutely unbiased. It
reflects exactly what it sees without adding or subtracting. It neither has any likes or dislikes. Hence its
reflection is totally dependable.

Besides, in the same stanza, the mirror has also been described as ‘unmisted’ because it is ‘clear’,
‘objective’, ‘dispassionate’, and ‘unprejudiced’ in reflecting what it sees. Its view is not obscured by any
‘mist’ of preconceptions and prejudices.

“I am not cruel, only truthful ‚//The eye of a little god, four-cornered.” This sets up for the second stanza
reinforcing the statement that the mirror only reflects what is in front of it and does not form its own
judgment. The mirror refers to itself as a little god, a god is seen as the amplification of truth in the realm
of humans and what is said or shown by a god is considered to be the only truth.

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The mirror continues to speak of the monotony of its existence as it sits facing the opposite wall ” pink
with speckles”, “I have looked at it so long I think it is part of my heart.” The mirror has faced this wall
so long it seems to be a part of it as it would only reflect that surface. The fact that the mirror is pink and
has been pink so long even into the old age of the woman could this be an attempt by the woman to latch
on to something of the past and a semblance of her youth by keeping the wall in the room that colour.
Also seeing that the colour pink is a vibrant colour associated with youth.

“But it flickers.//Faces and darkness separate us over and over.” The flickering could be a reference to
time moving, darkness then light over and over again as each day passes. These last two lines set up
stanza two. The image of the wall is interrupted only by people who enter to look at themselves and the
darkness that comes with night.

Stanza 2:

“Now I am a lake”. They say that water has memories, the mirror referring to itself as a lake, a large body
of water that if looked on is usually reflective, it could hold memories, the memories that this woman
holds of the past. “A woman bends over me,//Searching my reaches for what she really is.” The woman is
unable to come to terms with the fact that she is now old , searching for her youth, but the mirror only
reflects what is in front of it and what it sees is an old lady.

She looks to other things to show a different image “Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the
moon.” The candle and the moon can only shed light on what is there and cannot reflect they only show
shadows which are not the actual image which may be why the mirror calls them liars.

This woman is determined to find a way to reflect herself, to show something deeper than what is on the
surface. After searching in the lake, she turns to face the moonlight and candles to try and see a different
reflection.
The lake calls candles and the moon liars, because their light can warp sight, often hiding people's
blemishes and making them appear more beautiful (candlelight dinners and moonlight walks are romantic
for a reason, after all).

We see that the woman is not satisfied with the image that is shown by the mirror , we get the feeling of
melancholy from this stanza. She hates the image she now sees “I see her back, and reflect it
faithfully. //She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.” Seeing her image and her trying it
distort the image or rather her trying desperately to change what she sees.

“I am important to her. She comes and goes.//Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness” even
though the woman hates the image she sees in the mirror she seems reliant on it compelled to look each
day. The mirror has seen her face every day since she was a young woman aging until she now she is an
old woman and now her reflection seems to be something of a crisis or point of hurt for the woman .”In
me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman//Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible
fish.”

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1."Now I am a lake" is a metaphor. This is where the woman drowns the memories of her younger self
and begins to see herself aging. It is said that water holds memories and she has worshipped her looks in
the mirror since she was a young girl. It has seen her desired self and is now witnessing her lose the
beauty that she values. "Now I am a lake" compares the disinterested mirror with no likes or dislikes to a
lake full with memories of a young girl and the uprising of an old woman going through an emotional
spiral. This girl drowns in the lake as an old woman emerges. "In me she has drowned a young girl, and in
me an old woman rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish" is a metaphor and a simile. It means
that she is now an old woman and the young girl she once was is dead and will never return. The mirror
compares the old woman to a terrible fish which indicates her fading beauty. She is now a wrinkled old
woman or a terrible fish who is swimming in the memories of her youth, unable to accept that time has
passed and she has grown up. As life goes on so does time and with time people begin to lose their youth
and grow old.
2. "Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon" is personification. Candles and moons are
normally used in a romantic setting to convey beauty and create unrealistic perceptions. She grows
desperate to regain her beauty. Her appearance is no longer enough for her so even though she knows it is
a lie she looks at her reflection in the light of candles and the moon to feel happy about who she is and to
hide what she finds ugly and wrong with herself. The romanticism of candles and the moon is a false
pretense that hides things for what they really are. They are liars because they are not true, they do not tell
her the truth about her appearance or who she is, they only provide her with the temporary satisfaction of
being who she wants to be and seeing herself in a different light

Figurative devices

Metaphor:

“In me she has drowned a young girl,”- the woman, she has been looking at the mirror since she was a
young woman now her youth has passed and she is now old
“I think it is part of my heart”- the mirror has been reflecting the wall for so long is has become a
standard part of its existence as it always there
Simile:

“Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.” – making a comparison to the woman’s reflection
and her perception of herself as a terrible fish showing how much she disdains her reflection.
Personification :

“Now I am a lake”-
“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.” – the mirror is personified throughout the poem as it is
the narrator it now gives itself more human qualities and referring to itself as a being.
Imagery:

“It is pink, with speckles.”- the description of the wall allowing us to imagine the wall
“But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.” we can imagine the moving of faces, the darkness and the
light which give the impression of time moving

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Figures of Speech!
“Mirror” (by Sylvia Plath) uses a couple of different figures of speech in it to get its point across. The
entire poem is told by the mirror itself, meaning that personification is used throughout the poem because
most mirrors lack the ability to talk. The author’s use of the mirror as the main character gives an
interesting perspective to the poem describing the aging of a woman, presumably the owner of the mirror.
The mirror calls the candles and the moon “liars,” which is not only an example of personification (I’ve
never heard of a candle or moon telling a lie, or speaking in the first place), but also a fascinating
assertion. It implies that the appearance one sees by candlelight or moonlight may not be a true
reflection, as shadows may soften features that would otherwise appear hawk-like, for example. The
mirror also seems to give away the woman’s feelings about herself as she searches for “what she really
is” and “rewards [the mirror] with tears and an agitation of hands.” It appears that either the woman
doesn’t like what she sees in herself or she didn’t find what she was looking for, but toward the end of the
poem, Plath gives us another option for the woman’s agitation in the form of aging. “In me she has
drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman/Rises toward her day after day,” this indicates that the
woman’s youthful days are over and now she sees only that “terrible fish” of a reflection everyday.

Metaphors are used almost as much as personification in this passage, as the entire second stanza
compares the mirror to a lake, but even before that metaphors are distinctly present. The mirror calls
itself “the eye of a little god,” by that point in the poem, Plath has made sure that it’s clear that the mirror
is distinguished as completely objective, “unmisted by love or dislike” and “not cruel, only truthful.”

Plath also uses some simile in the poem, where she compares the old woman to “a terrible fish” that rises
to the surface of the mirror (the entire second stanza is an extended metaphor that compares the mirror to
a lake). By this, the author seems to imply how much the woman hates her aging appearance, after all,
she didn’t compare it to a koi fish, she said it was a “terrible fish.”

Mirror Themes

Time, Aging, and Mortality

The poem describes a woman seeing herself growing older and older in a mirror each day—or, more
accurately, it describes a personified mirror looking on as the women’s youth fades. The woman clearly
resents getting older and losing her beauty and youth—two important social currencies for women living
in a male-dominated society, especially in Plath’s day. The poem thus illustrates the anguish of aging, as
the woman confronts her mortality in the mirror each morning.

The first stanza illustrates the objectivity of the mirror, which is only capable of reflecting what it sees.
The mirror describes itself as “the eye of a little god.” Like a god, the mirror sees things exactly as they
are. The mirror has no intentions of its own; it has no desire to make the woman feel bad about herself. It
doesn’t exist to flatter or insult, but only to reflect appearances truthfully.

The woman, on the other hand, experiences the mirror’s objectivity as a pointed reminder of her own
mortality. As time passes, she ages and becomes further removed from her youth while getting ever closer
to death. The mirror is “important” to the woman, perhaps because women in particular are so often

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expected to conform to rigid standards of beauty and youth. Unfortunately, then, the very parts of the
woman that patriarchal society deems most valuable are also the parts of her that have a time stamp; they
are quickly fading.

Even more upsetting is the question of who she is when these parts of herself fade away. On the inside,
the woman is the same person she’s always been, yet as she gazes into her reflection each morning, she
sees “an old woman / Ris[ing] toward her, day after day, like a terrible fish.” This description suggests
that the woman's reflection is disconcerting, as if the aging process has made her unrecognizable; her
changing face feels shocking and unreal. And yet, the mirror insists that it is indeed real. This disconnect
between how she feels inside and the harsh reality of the mirror highlights the horror and difficulty of
confronting aging and—because aging inevitably leads to death—the idea of mortality.

Where this theme appears in the poem:

Lines 1-5
Lines 14-18

Appearance and Identity

While the poem is told from a personified mirror’s point of view, it’s really about the woman who sees
herself in that mirror. This woman is preoccupied with her reflection, hoping to find in it “what she really
is.” Even though the mirror itself is objective—in other words, it reflects exactly what stands before it—
the woman looking at her reflection still cannot see herself in its image. This, the poem implies, is
because people are so much more than what they look like on the surface; the mirror only reflects how
things appear, not what they are.

The mirror at first presents itself as being totally neutral when it comes to bouncing images back to its
subjects. It is “silver and exact," and doesn’t offer up distorted reflections that are “misted by love or
dislike”—that is, reflections that are influenced by feelings. Instead, it presents clear and precise images
and has “no preconceptions," meaning that it doesn't have an agenda. It’s not bending its image to tell a
certain story, but simply reflects whatever stands before it.

The mirror, then, is trustworthy; one can count on it to tell the truth. The poem suggests that the mirror is
“not cruel, only truthful.” This speaks to the fact that although people might not like what they see
reflected in the mirror, this isn’t because the mirror is actively trying to hurt them. After all, it is only
capable of reflecting what stands in front of it.

But the poem goes on to show the ways that the mirror’s objectivity is only skin-deep, reflecting just the
surface of things. The poem metaphorically compares the woman looking in the mirror to a woman
bending over a lake to see her own reflection. When she searches for this image, she can’t find “what she
really is"—that is, she doesn't gain a true sense of self-understanding. The fact that she isn’t just looking
at her reflection in the lake, but “searching [its] reaches” speaks to her longing to find out something
important about herself—something the poem implies cannot be found in the mirror, no matter how
carefully she looks.

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Although the woman searches the "reaches" of the lake-like mirror, the fact remains that all she can see is
a surface-level reflection of herself. This implies that, though the woman wants to discover something
deeper about herself, appearances can only reveal so much. The mirror might present a seemingly
objective representation of how the speaker looks (even reflecting her image "faithfully" when she turns
her back), but it will never be able to reveal the whole truth about who she is as a person. There is, after
all, much more to people than what meets the eye.

Where this theme appears in the poem:

Lines 1-5
Lines 10-11
Lines 12-14

Mood
Stanza 1: Calm, Tranquil, Peaceful
Stanza 2: Sadness, Sympathetic, Tragic, Sorrowful, Pitiful

Tone
Neutral, Calm, Disinterested, Objective, Impartial
The mirror is an object, unable to feel anything such as like or dislike.

Possible Themes

Identity/Self-image
Loss of youth
Woman vs aging
Depression
Power and Authority
Appearance VS Reality / Self Perception
Consequences of Time / Effects of Aging
Insecurities of Old Age
Losing One’s Beauty
Losing Your Yourh