Mirror by.Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

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 a 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.




TPCAST:

T-title1: The reflection of one’s self, innocence

P-paraphrase: The author was a young girl in the beginning and turns into an old woman. The changeability of one’s self.

C-connotation: There are many metaphors and similes in this poem, such as “I am silver and exact”, “I am a lake”, ”like a terrible fish” and etc. Sylvia uses this metaphor to show that the little girl get used to look in that mirror has now drowned and an old woman appears and towards her "like a terrible fish". This shows her dislike for herself. It says "over and over" and "day after day", Sylvia has been looking in this mirror every day for a long period of time, she is getting older and she hates it.

A-attitude: Sylvia was severe depression and she had very little compassion for herself. This poem shows how she is scared of the truth the mirror is showing her.

S-Shifts: “I” here represents the young girl and also the old woman, which means “I” represents herself or her image.

T-title2:The reflection that presents one’s self, truth, and lies.

T-theme: The author Sylvia Plath is telling us the truth and lies. Sylvia plath is torn between the true picture of herself and the biased image in other’s point of view. The mirror represents the truth, as it is described as "exact", "just as it is" and "only truthful". Unlike humans the mirror cannot judge sylvia as it says "no preconceptions...unmisted by love or dislike". This shows unlike someone who may love her or hate her the mirror can have no opinion of her so will not be biased on judging how she looks.