Poem at a Glance
The mirror describes itself.
It is silver-coloured and exact.
It doesn’t suffer from pre-conceived notions or pre-thoughts.
It is not affected by love, hate or other emotions.
The mirror reflects, whatever it sees, faithfully and objectively.
The mirror meditates on the opposite wall most of the times.
Another form of the mirror is a lake.
A women bends over it searching for her youth and beauty.
The woman sees her face in the mirror everyday and day by day she grows older.
She realizes that she has lost her beauty and youth.
The turns to candles and the moon who are just liar and never present exact and true images.
The mirror never deceives. The women feels agitated when reality bites her.
She is quite restless to realize that she is no more young and beautiful.
She feels terrible as a fish feels when it is out of water.
Literary Devices in the poem
(I) Personification
I (mirror has been imaged as a person)
(II) Metaphor
I am a lake.
CBSE Class 10 English Mirror Short Answer Questions
(To be answered in not more than 30-40 words each)
Question : The mirror says- ‘I am not cruel, only truthful’ Discuss.
Answer. The mirror says that it has no personal feelings. It is neither cruel not hardhearted. It is only truthful. It reflects or shows whatever it sees in all its exactness. It does not hide, twist or distort anything. In other words, it accepts the reality as it is. In this sense the mirror is ‘the eye of a little god’. Its four corners include the entire world. It looks at things from all the corners. Its observation is impartial.
Question : ’Man is so busy in enhancing the outer beauty that he has no time to peep into his heart and spirit and to realize the beauty that lies with in’. Explain.
Answer. The person i8s so beautiful and kind in his heart because of his outer beauty or the appearance we are fed up with our personality. Inner beauty is greater than outer.
Question : Why has the mirror been called Unmisted?
Answer. No preconception, truthful not cruel exact etc.
Question. What makes the woman sad and tearful?
Answer. The woman looks into the water of the lake to see how she really looks. The mirror says that the candles and the moon are liars. They do not depict the true reality of a person. The mirror reflects her picture in true colours. Time and ageing have spoiled her beauty. She is no longer young and charming.
Question. What lesson does the mirror convey?
Answer.The mirror conveys that human beings are unable to accept decay and ageing. They long for the simple and undeniable fact that youth and beauty cannot last long. The mirror is a constant reminder of this harsh fact.
Question. Who is the woman in the poem Mirror? Why does she feel like a terrible fish trapped in the lake of life?
Answer. The woman in the poem Mirror is an old woman who once was young, beautiful and charming. She looks into the mirror and finds that she is becoming older and older day after day. There are wrinkles on her face. The process of ageing has left its marks on the face of the woman. She is unwilling to accept the reality of life. She is full of tears and agitation.
Question. How does the mirror become the eye of a little god?
Answer. The mirror says that it has no preconceptions. It is silver and exact. It reflects what it sees. There is no twist or distortion in its reflecting the thing or a person. It is like the eye of a little god. It watches everything in an impartial manner. Thus it becomes the eye of little god.
CBSE Class 10 English Mirror Value Based Questions
Question. The poem Mirror is like a lake of water. Discuss the statement with reference to the following extract.
I and silver and exact, it have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, un-misted by love or dislike.
Answer. The poem is vey suggestive and meaningful. It truly reflects what is before it. It is free from prejudices. The reflection is neither twisted nor distorted. It describes its true nature and function. It gives and exact image of whatever appears before it. It accepts everything as it sees and remains unaffected by any feelings of love or hatred.The poet compares the mirror to a lake. The water in the lake also reflects objects and the human being in all their reality. A women comes and looks into the water of the lake to see how she looks. Then she turns to look at the reflection of the candles and the moon in the lake. The mirror says that the candles and the moon are liars. They do not depict the reality of a person. It is only the mirror that reflects the picture in its true colour. The fact is that the woman has grown old. Time and ageing have spoiled her beauty and charm. There are wrinkles on her face. This brings tears into her eyes. She feels sad and sorrowful.
CBSE Class 10 English Mirror MCQs
(1) Read the extracts and answer the following question by choosing the appropriate option:
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by live or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful.
Question. I here refers to
(a) The poet
(b) The mirror
(c) A woman
(d) A god.
Answer. B
Question. When the poet says that the mirror has no preconceptions it meAnswer.
(a) It reflects your image objectively.
(b) It gives a biased view of the person.
(c) It is emotionally involved with the person whose image it reflects.
(d) It does not care what the other person thinks of it.
Answer. A
Question. I am not cruel, only truthful reveals that the mirror is
(a) Not liked by all people.
(b) Not liked by some.
(c) Hated by some
(d) Avoided by some.
Answer. D
(2)
Now I am a lake. A woman ends 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.
Question. Which poetic device has been used in the first line?
(a) Metaphor
(b) Simile
(c) Alliteration
(d) Repetition
Answer. A
Question. The woman turns away from the mirror as she is unable to face
(a) The mirror
(b) Others
(c) The reality
(d) Herself in the mirror
Answer. C
Question. The woman is searching for
(a) Her real self
(b) Her lost purse
(c) Her old self
(d) Her lost youth
Answer. D
CBSE Class 10 English Mirror Short Answer Questions
(1) Read the following extracts and answer the questions:
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.
(i) Since when has the woman been coming to the mirror?
(ii) What is the terrible fish symbolic of?
(iii) In me she has drowned a young girl. What does it refer to?
Answer.
(i) The woman has been coming to the mirror since her youthful days.
(ii) The terrible fish is symbolic of the lady's terrible old age.
(iii) It refers to the loss of youth and beauty.
THE MIRROR
1. Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow.
1. “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.”
a) In what way is the mirror ‘exact’?
b) What does the poet mean by the expression, ‘I have no preconceptions’?
c) Why has the mirror been described as being ‘unmisted’?
2. “ A woman bends over me
Searching my reaches for what she really is
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon”
a) What is the woman bending over?
b) Why have the candles or moon been called ‘liars’?
c) Why does she turn to them inspite of calling them ‘liars’?
3. “I am not cruel, only truthful
The eye of a little God, four-cornered
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall”
a) Why does the mirror say, ‘I am not cruel’?
b) Why has the mirror been called a ‘four-cornered’ god?
c) How does the mirror spend its time?
2. Short Answer Questions
i) Why is the old woman compared to a terrible fish in the poem, ‘Mirror?’
ii) Why is the mirror like a God and a lake?
iii) Why does the woman not like the Mirror?
3. Long Answer Question
a) The mirror brings out every man’s struggle to break the shackles of vanity and self obsession and accept the truth with dignity. Elaborate
