TEXT

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.Whatever I see I swallow immediatelyJust as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.I am not cruel, only truthful --The eye of a little god, fourcornered.Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so longI 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 womanRises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.
NOTES

preconceptions

an idea or opinion that is formed before you haveenough information or experience unmisted

not mixed four-cornered

mirror watches unbiased and fair from all the fourangles pink, with speckles

a person with a healthy pink face with freckles flickers

to keep going on and off agitation of hands

the person is very upset

SUMMARY
Sylvia Plath through her poem Mirror tries to reveal how human prefer the world ofillusions. In this poem, the protagonist mirror monologuically narrates its character. Themirror says it is silver in colour and exact in appearance and has no prejudices about theobjects that come before it. It says whatever appears before it, is suddenly swallowedwithout any alteration. In comparison to human the mirror does not have any emotions likelove or hatred. The mirror says though its truthfulness does not please the onlooker, it doesnot have any intention to be cruel and it only likes to be truthful. The mirror metaphoricallycompares itself with eye of omnipresent God that sees an object from all the angles. It saysit always contemplate looking into the opposite pink wall with speckles as it (wall) is alwayswith the mirror, it considers the wall as its indispensable part. The wall remains with itexcept when darkness and object flickers (disturbs) them.The mirror metaphorically compares lake, which has the quality to reflect the object as amirror does, with itself. When a woman bends over the lake and searches her realappearance in it, she is not satisfied with the reflection seen. So she shows agitation ofhands and her tears to show her resentment and hatred towards the mirror. Then she runsbehind those liars, the candles and moonlight, which give dim light unlike the mirror which sees her reality and reflect it faithfully. The mirror says though the woman dislikes mirrors character but she cannot have an existence without it. So each morning she comes before itto replace the darkness. The woman when she was in her youthful glory used the mirror toaccess her appearance but now that beauty has been drowned (lost) in it and now when shelooks into it she feels as if she has grown terribly old wherefrom she cannot have an escape.So she feels like a terrible fish out of water that

struggles for its existence. The significanceof using symbolic fish is insensitiveness, lack of romantic appeal, unattractiveness andhelplessness.
ABOUT THE POET

It is indeed very inter esting to know about the life of the poet Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 February 11, 1963) was anAmerican poet, novelist and short story writer. Born inMassachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham CollegeCambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer.She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and they lived togetherfirst in the United States and then England, having two childrentogether: Frieda and Nicholas. Following a long struggle withdepression and a marital separation, Plath committed suicide in 1963.Controversy continues to surround the events of her life and death, aswell as her writing and legacy. She killed herself by placing her headinside an oven! She wrote many poems and novels. One of his famousnovels is
The Bell Jar

PRACTISE

1.What is the significance of personifying the mirror by the poet? 2.What are the characters of the mirror narrated in the poem?3. Explain: swallow and preconceptions. 4.Why the mirror i s compared with Gods eye? 5. Explain: opposite pink walls with speckles. 6.Why the mirror thinks the opposite wall is its heart?7. Why has the mirror been described as unmisted? What is the image that the poet is trying to convey about the mirror?8.What is the significance of comparing the mirror with lake?9.What is the woman searching for and what is her response after the search?10.How does the mirror spend its time? 11.What is the woman searching for in the depths of the pool?12.What is the significance of using the symbolic words fish with relation to mirror? 13. What is the womans response after her search? Why? 14.How does the woman show her hatred towards the image seen in the mirror? 15. What disturbs mirrors contemplation on the opposite wall? 16.Why is the mirror compared with a lake?17.Where does the woman find solace to get away from her frustration and why?18.How does the mirror swallow? What is the poetic device used here?19.Name the literary term which is used by the poet throughout the poem.20.How the woman drowned her youth? Mention the role of mirror in drowning her.21.What is the irony in the relationship between the mirror and the woman?22.

What is the importance of the imagery implied through the use of the words drowned and rises? 23.Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in youranswer sheet in one or two lines only. Number the answers correctly. I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediatelyJust as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.I am not cruel, only truthful -The eye of a little god, fourcornered.(a) What does the expressi on I swallow immediately mean ?(b) Why is the mirror compared to a four-cornered god? (c) What other qualities does the mirror boast of? (AI 2007)24.Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in youranswer sheet in one or two lines only. Number the answers correctly.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.( a)Name the poem and the poet. (b)How does the speaker spend his time?(c) What does pink, with speckles mean? (Foreign 2010)25.Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. Write the answers in youranswer sheet in one or two lines only. Number the answers correctly.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.(a) Why is the mirror important to her? (b) Why does she cry? (c) What does agitation of hands mean? (Delhi 2010)