The soul
The poem portrays a portrait the artist made of himself in a convex mirror in a symbolic representation of a captured soul. The soul is “treated humanely”, it must stay where it is unable to move further than what the portrait shows. The poem shows the captured essence of the artist in a complex image produced by the reflection in a convex mirror.
The convex mirror
The convex mirror is a type of mirror where the reflection is distorted in a way that the position of the object shown can affect its size. The poem describes the famous artwork by Parmigiano in which the artist self-portrait showing his reflection in a convex mirror. The poem describes the liveliness and captured essence in the portrait with the help of the convex mirror with words like “embalmed”, “lively”; the mirror itself making the portrait transcend time and reality.
Time
The poem reflects on the meaning of time in relation to the artist’s self-portrait which perfectly captures the moment in time vividly portrayed through the distortion in the convex mirror. The poem contemplates the passing of time as following a certain course where every change is a part of a whole.
Realism and dreams
The poem reflects on the idea of realism and the meaning of dreams. The reality reflected in the convex mirror is a distorted one, dreamlike and doesn’t reflect the truth. Nevertheless, the portrait retains a universal form of ideal beauty, distorted as it is, comparable to dreams and the distorted vision of this idealism.
