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the poem a mirror by Sylvia Plath is
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about a mirror that speaks about itself
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experiences the poem is written from the
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point of view of the mirror the mirror
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is the speaker the mirror describes
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itself and tells how it reflects
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whatever is in front of it in the second
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part of the poem The Mirror changes into
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a lake it describes how a woman looks
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into it and sees her aging
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reflection this video explores the
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explanation and Analysis of the poem
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background of the poem Sylvia Plath was
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an American poet she lived in the 20th
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century she is famous for writing about
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Deep Emotions and personal
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struggles she often wrote about feelings
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of sadness loneliness and identity the
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poem airror was written in 1961 and was
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published in a collection of her poems
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this poem reflects her thoughts about
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truth aging and the fear of getting old
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at the time the poem was written women
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were expected to look beautiful Beauty
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was seen as an important thing when a
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woman became old people thought she was
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not beautiful anymore this poem shows
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how a woman sees herself changing as she
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ages she looks into the mirror and sees
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the truth the mirror does not lie it
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reflects exactly what it sees the woman
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does not always like what she sees but
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the mirror is honest explanation of the
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poem a mirror by Sylvia Plath the first
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line of the poem says I am silver and
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preconceptions the word silver refers to
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the color of the mirror mirrrors are
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usually made of glass but the back of
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the mirror is coated with a shiny metal
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aluminum that is why the mirror
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describes itself as silver the word
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exact means precise accurate and correct
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the mirror reflects exactly what is in
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front of it it does not change anything
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the phrase I have no preconceptions
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means that the mirror does not have any
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opinions judgments or ideas about what
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reflects it does not decide what is
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beautiful or ugly it does not have
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feelings about what it sees it only
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shows the truth the next line say
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whatever I see I swallow immediately
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just as it is unmisted by love or
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dislike the word swallow a means to
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accept or take something
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incompletely the phrase just as it is
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means that the mirror does not change or
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alter what it sees the word unmisted
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means clear not foggy the mirror is
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saying that Its Reflection is not
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emotions the words love or dislike mean
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feelings of liking or disliking
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something the mirror does not have
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emotions like humans do it does not show
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things in a way that makes them look
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better or worse it simply reflects the
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truth truth the next line is I am not
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cruel only truthful the word cruel means
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being harsh unkind or hurtful the mirror
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says it is not cruel it only shows the
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truth the truth can sometimes be harsh
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but that does not mean the mirror is
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being cruel the mirror does not lie it
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does not try to make things look better
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or worse than they really are the next
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line says the eye of a little God for
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cornered here the mirror Compares itself
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to an eye just like an eye sees
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everything the mirror also reflects
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everything the phrase a little God means
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something powerful but not as powerful
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as a real God the mirror is like a God
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because it sees everything truthfully
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but it is not an actual God the word a
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four cornered means that the mirror has
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four corners it is rectangular in shape
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like most mirrors the next lines say
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most of the time I meditate on opposite
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speckles I have looked at it so long I
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think it is part of my heart but it
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flickers faces and darkness separate us
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over and over the word meditate means to
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focus deeply on something for a long
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time the mirror is saying that it spends
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most of its time looking at the wall in
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front of it the word Speckles means
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small spots or marks the mirror
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describes the wall as pink with small
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spots on it the phrase I think it is
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part of my heart means that the Mirror
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Has looked at the wall for so long that
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it feels connected to it the word of
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flickers means something that appears
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and disappears quickly here it means
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that the image of the wall sometimes
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disappears when someone stands in front
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of the mirror the last line faces and
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darkness separate us over and over means
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that people stand in front of the mirror
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and when they do the mirror reflects
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their faces instead of the wall when
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there is no light the mirror reflects
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Ness this keeps happening again and
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again the second part of the poem a
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mirror by Sylvia Plath begins with now I
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am a lake a woman bends over me
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searching my reaches for what she really
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is the mirror is no longer describing
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itself as a mirror it now describes
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itself as a lake a lake also reflects
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images just like a mirror the phrase
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bends over me means that the woman leans
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over the water to look at her reflection
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the phrase searching my reaches means
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looking deep into the
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reflection the woman is trying to see
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and understand herself through
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reflection the next line say then she
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turns to those Liars the candles or the
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moon the word Liars means those who do
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not tell the truth the mirror is saying
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that candles and the moon are not
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truthful this is because candl light and
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Moonlight are soft and dim they do not
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show a clear and true
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reflection instead they make things look
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different the mirror or lake is saying
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that the woman prefers to look at
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herself in soft light because it does
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not show all the details of Aging the
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next line say I see her back and reflect
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it Faithfully she rewards me with tears
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and an agitation of hands the phrase
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reflect it Faithfully means that the
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mirror or lake shows the woman's
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reflection exactly as it is the word
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Faithfully means with honesty and
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without change the phrase reward towards
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me with tears means that the woman
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reacts to her reflection with
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sadness she sees herself aging and does
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not like what she sees the phrase
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agitation of hands means that she moves
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her hands in a disturbed or upset way
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she is frustrated or emotional when she
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reflection the next line say I am
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important to her she comes and goes each
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morning it is her face that replaces the
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darkness the mirror is saying that the
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woman looks at her reflection often she
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comes to the mirror every day the phrase
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replaces the darkness means that every
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morning when the light comes the first
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thing the mirror reflects is the woman's
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face the final lines say in me she has
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drowned a young girl and in me an old
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woman Rises toward her day after day
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like a terrible fish the phrase drowned
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a young girl means that as time passed
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the woman's younger self disappeared in
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the mirror she is no longer young the
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phrase pH an old woman Rises toward her
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means that she now sees herself Aging in
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the mirror the words like a terrible
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fish compare her aging reflection to a
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frightening fish rising from the water
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this means that the woman is afraid of
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Aging she does not like what she
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sees this poem is about the truth of
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Aging the mirror does not lie it always
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shows the truth even if the truth is
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difficult to accept the woman in the
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poem struggles with accepting her aging
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reflection this shows that people often
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find it hard to accept changes in their
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appearance as they grow older Sylvia
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Plath uses the mirror and the lake as
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symbols of Truth the poem a mirror by
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Sylvia Plath teaches us that time passes
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and we cannot Escape aging no matter how
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we feel about it analysis of the poem
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Mirror by Sylvia pla let's first talk
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about the structure of the poem the poem
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stanzas a stanza is a group of lines in
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a poem the first stanza has nine lines
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and the second stanza also has nine
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lines the poem does not have a rhyme
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scheme a rhyme scheme is when words at
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the end of lines sound similar this poem
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does not follow a pattern of rhyming
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words instead it is written in free
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verse free verse means there is no fixed
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pattern of Rhythm or rhyme this makes
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the poem sound natural like someone is
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speaking the poem has several important
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themes a theme is the main idea or
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message in a poem one important theme is
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truth and honesty the mirror always
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shows the truth it does not change what
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it sees it does not try to make things
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look better or worse it reflects things
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exactly as they are the woman looks into
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the mirror because she wants to see the
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truth about herself but sometimes the
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truth is hard to accept another
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important theme is aging and time the
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woman in the poem watches herself grow
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older when she was young she saw a young
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girl in the mirror but now she sees an
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older woman time has passed and she
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cannot stop it the mirror shows how
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people change as they age the woman
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feels sad when she sees herself getting
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older another theme is identity and
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self-reflection the woman looks into the
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mirror to find out who she really is she
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wants to understand herself but she does
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not always like what she sees she is
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searching for her true self in the
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mirror now let's talk about the symbols
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in the poem Mirror by Sylvia Plath a
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symbol is something that represents a
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deeper meaning the poem uses several
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symbols the mirror itself is a symbol of
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Truth it does not lie or change what it
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sees it represents honesty and reality
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the lake in the second stanza is also a
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symbol a lake reflects like a mirror but
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its surface can move this means the
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reflection can sometimes be unclear the
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lake represents deeper thoughts and
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emotions the woman looks into the lake
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because she is trying to find out who
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she really is the candles and the moon
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are also symbols the poem says that the
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woman turns to those Liars the candles
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or the moon this means that candles and
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the Moon Moon do not show the truth they
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create soft light which can hide reality
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the woman wants to see something
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beautiful but she knows only the mirror
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shows the real truth the terrible fish
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at the end of the poem is another
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important symbol the poem says that an
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old woman Rises toward her day after day
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like a terrible fish this means that
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every day the woman sees herself getting
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older she feels scared of Aging the fish
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represents fear and sadness
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it shows how she feels about getting old
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the poem a miror by Sylvia Plath also
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devices a literary device is a special
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way of using words to create a deeper
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meaning the poem is written from the
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perspective of the mirror this means the
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mirror is the one speaking this is
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personification personification is when
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something that is not human is given
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qualities in this poem the mirror is
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given the ability to to speak and think
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the mirror describes itself as silver
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exact this means it is clear and does
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not change what it sees the poem
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continues in this way making the mirror
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alive another literary device is
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metaphor a metaphor is when something is
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compared to something else without using
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like or as in the second stanza the
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mirror says now I am a lake this does
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not mean The Mirror Has Changed into a
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lake it means that the lake is also
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reflecting like a mirror this shows how
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the woman is still looking for her true
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self another literary device is imagery
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imagery is when the poet uses words to
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create a picture in the reader's mind
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the poem describes how the woman bends
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over the lake searching for her true
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self it describes the candles and the
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moon and the image of the terrible fish
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these descriptions help the reader
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imagine the scene and understand the
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conclusion an explanation and Analysis
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of the poem of Mirror by Sylvia Plath
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shows that the poem talks about truth
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self-reflection the mirror tells the
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truth even when the truth is painful the
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woman in the poem struggles with aging
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she wants to see herself as young but
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she cannot change time the poem uses
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many literary devices such as
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personification metaphor and imagery to
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make the message powerful
