“Mirror” Questions
The poem is basically about seeing the perfect image of oneself in the mirror. The “lairs,” being the candles and the moon, are conveyed in that light (no pun intended) because they shed the reality of age on the woman. The poem says “Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.” This means the light that is given to her by the moon and candle gives her a negative perception of her own body; however, the mirror sees her as beautiful, no matter how she ages.
Essentially, the woman and the mirror are one in the same. The mirror “swallows” up and becomes everything it reflects. As the mirror “meditates” and “reflects” it is giving a beautiful image, or so it things. The mirror sees nothing but the beauty of the world; however, the woman can see her aging self. When she “bends over” the mirror and rewards it “with tears and an agitation of hands” she is grabbing something that will let her get clearer view of herself and when she sees herself she is not happy; she is saddened by her age. The word “agitation” shows the frustration she feels as she sees her age. The mirror; however, only sees it as happiness because its sole purpose is to give a simple reflection.
The gustatory image of the mirror “swallowing” everything is related to the visual one of the drowned young girl and the simile at the end of the poem because each relate to water. When a person comes in contact with water in literature, it indicates a change. The mirror is swallowing the images as a hungry fish swallows everything they see; they are unaffected by the change. When the drowned young girl is admitted into the piece it show the change from young to old and the mirror is still left unaffected and still shows her beauty. The simile stating “like a terrible fish” compares reeling a fish in to the fast changes of age. As the fish approaches it get harder and harder to reel; as it is for this woman to look in the mirror. She sees the terribleness of age; the mirror does not.