Author’s Note:
This poem is response to
the novel, Jekyll and Hyde. Jekyll and Hyde demonstrates that every man,
whether they realize it or not, has an evil side to them. Some people may not
even know that they have a dark side because it is too much to comprehend. This
poem demonstrates that concept. A girl looks into the mirror and sees a normal
human being or her “good” side. When she takes a second look she’s sees her “dark”
side.
Looking Into the Mirror
Looking into the mirror:
She saw a reflection
She saw perfection
Looking into the mirror:
She saw a human
She saw a personality bloomin’
Looking into the mirror:
She saw diligence
She saw innocence
She took a second look:
Looking into the mirror:
She saw a mutation
She saw an ugly creation
Looking into the mirror:
She saw a monster
She saw a haunter
Looking into the mirror:
She saw a beast
She saw a creep
Looking into the mirror:
She saw darkness
She saw savageness
Looking into the mirror:
She saw a figure of evil
She saw a figure of hatred
She saw a figure of pain…
She saw herself
"...and then the door of that room would be opened, the curtains of the bed plucked apart, the sleeper recalled, and lo! there would stand by his side a figure to whom power was given, and even at that dead hour, he must rise and do its bidding. The figure in these two phases haunted the lawyer all night; and if at any time he dozed over, it was but to see it glide more stealthily through sleeping houses, or move the more swiftly and still the more swiftly, even to dizziness, through wider labyrinths of lamp-lighted city, and at every street corner crush a child and leave her screaming." (48)
“At least it would be a face worth seeing: the face of a man who was without bowels of mercy: a face which had but to show itself to raise up, in the mind of the unimpressionable Enfield, a spirit of enduring hatred.” (49)
Wow, this is a lot different than what I though it was going to be, and not in a bad way. I remember last class you were struggling and writing a creative short story, of course I would of loved to read what you had started with but I really enjoyed this poem. I like the repetition that you demonstrated and how it was a transformation was a cool idea. My only critique would be to not be so "literal" I guess. I mean it is a lovely poem but maybe another stanza could help elaborate. But what you have is great, and I love it!
ReplyDeleteAngela, for me your ending line was the strongest. "She saw herself" really pulled the whole concept of the duality of man together. The only thing that I would change would to even out the number of stanzas of evil and good to match. I think this would complement your already great rhythm nicely. Overall I love it!
ReplyDeleteAngela this was a really good poem. I really liked how you used the "Looking in the Mirror" repetition, and it made the poem stronger. I liked the way that you ended it, and it wrapped up the story very well. Good job :)
ReplyDelete