Mirror

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 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.

By Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

- An American writer
- She also wrote The Bell Jar, a
very famous American novel,
which was also semi-
autobiographical.
- Plath suffered from depression for
most of her life, which is reflected
in the melancholy tone of much of
her writing.
Before Reading
 Introduce the following vocabulary terms through description and translation
when necessary: exact, preconceptions, unmisted, meditate, speckles, flickers, reflect,
agitation
 Pose the following pre-reading questions to the class:
1. Why do people look in mirrors?
2. What kinds of people spend a lot of time in front of mirrors? What kinds of
people don’t?
3. Is it a good thing to like looking at yourself in a mirror?
4. This poem is called “Mirror.” Before reading the poem, can you see how
this poem is, itself, like a mirror? [2 stanzas, each 9 lines, like a reflection]

Reading
 Read the poem one time through aloud for the class
 Now, have all of the students read the poem again by themselves and ask them to
find all of the words that relate to the word “mirror.” [examples: silver, see,
reflect, etc.]
 What does the author compare a mirror to in this poem? [a lake]
 Find all of the words you can that relate to the word “lake.”

Discussion
Hint: Work in groups of 2-4 students and discuss among friends, then come together as a group for
a whole class discussion. Part of the beauty of poetry is that everyone sees it differently, so you’ll be
guaranteed to get some very different perspectives this way.

 In your opinion, how is a mirror like a lake?

 According to the poem, how is a mirror like a lake?
 Describe the woman in the poem. What do you think Sylvia Plath is trying to say
about women in general with this poem?
 The mirror is the narrator in this poem. How would the poem be different if it was
written from the woman’s perspective instead?

Additional activities for interested students…

1. Write a short story or a short poem of your own from the perspective of
the woman. Who is she? Is she happy? Why or why not?
2. Take a few minutes and study yourself in the mirror. How does it make
you feel? The longer you look, do you begin to feel better or worse?
Why? Write a journal entry about these feelings.
3. Do some research about Sylvia Plath’s life. Knowing about her troubled
past, does that change how you interpret the poem? Why?