I Look Into My Glass

Question 1

What is the poem about? Context and themes

Answer 1

Hardy is looking at himself and how old he is and saying his feelings about growing old, even though his mind seems young. themes of age, death, rhythm of life

Question 2

Quotes to use in first stanza

Answer 2

“glass” “view” “wasting skin” “God” “my heart had shrunk as thin!”

Question 3

“glass”

Answer 3

reflective surface, shows artificial image of self. reflection in two ways, reflection of physical outside appearance but also reflection of how Hardy sees himself

Question 4

“view”

Answer 4

“view” makes it seem like he is looking at himself from a distance. shows the distance between his body and mind as his view in his mind is so far away from his outside appearance. young mind vs old body

Question 5

“wasting skin”

Answer 5

“skin” is a clear show of age, you can’t hide it, it is how people see you and how you see yourself in a reflective surface (glass). “wasting skin” shows how his body is starting to decline, unpleasant, connotations of decay, death and illness

Question 6

“God”

Answer 6

Hardy refers to God here in a sort of prayer. ironic because he wasn’t so religious

Question 7

“my heart had shrunk as thin!”

Answer 7

prayer, Hardy wants his heart to shrink and waste as his skin does so that his spirit and soul are like his skin. shows how for him he is suffering having such an alive and young mind that he can’t use in this old body. shows desperation, creates pathos. “heart” - victorian view of heart was more metaphorical than now, more like mind: love, compassion, feeling

Question 8

Quotes to use in second stanza

Answer 8

“I” “by hearts grown cold to me” “could lonely” “endless rest” “equanimity”

Question 9

“I”

Answer 9

physically isolated between two commas, like Hardy’s mind inside his body, physical separation of pronoun and verb

Question 10

“by hearts grown cold to me”

Answer 10

passive, puts Hardy in the position of the sufferer

Question 11

“could lonely”

Answer 11

“lonely” before the verb, strange syntax, puts emphasis on lonely

Question 12

“endless rest”

Answer 12

metaphor for his death, says how he is waiting for his death where he will have peace from his restless mind

Question 13

“equanimity”

Answer 13

calm, composed. polysyllabic word, out of place like Hardy’s mind in his body. rhymes with “me”, contrast of short and long words shows that us getting older is simple yet still difficult

Question 14

Quotes to use in third stanza

Answer 14

“Time, to make me grieve” “part steals, lets part abide” “this fragile frame at eve” “throbbings of noontide”

Question 15

“Time, to make me grieve”

Answer 15

time is personified to highlight it’s importance and power over him and how it leads to his grieving

Question 16

“part steals, lets part abide”

Answer 16

caesura, creates reflection within line, lines mirror each other emphasising how time is stealing his body but letting his heart and emotions “abide” which means to continue without fading or being lost.

Question 17

“this fragile frame at eve”

Answer 17

“this” shows his disconnection from his body, his frail body at the “eve” of his life

Question 18

“throbbings of noontide”

Answer 18

the “throbbings” are the memories of his younger self at the “noontide” (midpoint) of his life. “throbbing” also has connotations of pain so it shows that remembering these memories are causing him pain

Question 19

Structural points

Answer 19

One line in a verse is always longer, out of place, line Hardy’s mind in his body

Regular rhyme scheme, regularity of thoughts contrast to abstract mind

Simple rhyme scheme like a nursery rhyme, contrast to theme about getting older