CBSE Class 10 Answered

Mirros is a poem by Sylvia Plath which gives the reader an autobiographical account of a mirror and what it sees in its lifetime. It explains its relationship with its owner—a woman who grows older as the mirror watches. The trials and tribulations of the woman, her struggles and her quest for identity are witnessed by the mirror.

The poem begins with a statement from the mirror; it states that it is exact and has no preconceptions. It is unbiased because it reflects everything it sees without being influenced by love or dislike. Some people may call it cruel, but the mirror sees itself differently. It is only truthful and truth can sometimes be hurtful.

The mirror claims to be a four-cornered eye of a little god that perceives everything that is cast on it. It focuses on a pink speckled wall most of the time which according to it is a part of its heart.  But it only gets glimpses of the heart as faces and darkness often come between the mirror and the wall.

In the second stanza, the mirror becomes a lake. It often encounters a woman bending over. The woman, according to the mirror, searches for her own identity in its depths. Despite the mirror’s truthfulness, the woman always turns to liars and flatterers who give her a very biased view about herself. Even with her back turn against it, the mirror reflects it faithfully. All that the mirror gets in return are her tears and her agitation.  Despite all this, the mirror is aware of its value in the woman’s life and her face is the only that punctuates its long hours of darkness.  It is in the mirror that the woman drowned her youth. As a sign of her approaching old age, an old woman rises from the mirror day after day.