Essay Questions

How does the poet use literary device imagery to engage his readers?

The entire poem is about the description of the self-portrait reflected in a convex mirror. For instance, the poet provides a vivid description of the room in which the artist's portrait is located. According to the poet, the room is dark, with some light protruding through the window. Similarly, the poet describes the image of the portrait reflected in the convex mirror. The poet notes that the image is distorted and does not depict the reality of the portrait. All these descriptions by the poet depict the sense of sight to readers.

What is the symbolic meaning of the distorted image of the portrait reflected in the convex mirror?

The poet is passionate about differentiating between objective and subjective truth. The artist's portrait in the convex mirror is distorted to symbolize the subjectivity of art. According to the poet, art's objective is not to provide factual truth, but it represents its underlying principles. The distorted portrait depicts what the viewer wants to see but does not reflect the artist's actual intentions.

How does the poet reflect the thought of pragmatism and the denotation of dreams?

The poet introduces readers to the portrait reflected in the convex mirror, which does not depict reality because of its distortion. The mirror image does not show the objective truth, and it just looks like a dream. Whenever one dreams, he wakes up to reality and gets disappointed because dreams are not reflections of truth. However, the reader appreciates the distorted image in the convex mirror because it conveys optimism.