Compare Only the wall by Matthew Sweeney and Mirror by Sylvia Plath.

Compare Only the wall by Matthew Sweeney and Mirror by Sylvia Plath.

Poem Comparison.

I am going to compare two poems "Only the wall" by Matthew Sweeney and

"Mirror" by Sylvia Plath. Both poems are similar as they both use

personification. The poem "Only the wall" has the wall, which is

personified as the wall is seeing what is happening, but cannot tell

anyone. The poem "Mirror" has the mirror, which is personified, as the

poem shows what the mirror sees.

The poem mirror is about a mirror and a woman who is obsessed with the

mirror. The mirror says it does not lie it just tells the truth.

"I am not cruel only truthful"

This tells you the mirror does not lie it shows the truth even though

it might hurt and that it cannot judge how someone looks.

In the second stanza the mirror begins to feel sorry for the woman.

"I see her back and reflect it faithfully. She rewards me with tears

and an agnation of the hands."

This tells you how the mirror sees the woman's ugly face everyday and

how the mirror sees the woman upset with the way she looks. The mirror

is also upset, as it does not mean to upset her, but it can only show

the truth.

The mood of the poem is sad.

"In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman rises

towards her day after day, like a terrible fish."

This tells how sad she is especially when she goes to the mirror and

sees how her beauty has died away.

The way the poem has been structured is the first stanza is about the

mirror and the second stanza is about the woman.

The poet's idea is trying to make us think about how people care so

much about how they look.

"I am important to her. She comes and goes. Each morning her face

replaces the darkness."

This tells us that the woman is maybe upset with the way she looks and

how the mirror is really important because she wishes that she could

be young and pretty again.

Overall I think this poem was sad as it made me feel sorry for the

woman. Also at first I found it hard to understand.

The second poem has a different subject to the first poem. The first

poem is about a woman looking in the mirror and the second poem is

about a wall watching three bullies bullying a boy. For example:

"The first day only the wall saw the bully trip the new boy"

This line tells us that on the new boys fist day only the wall saw