The latter poem is a depiction of the vanities and biases human beings tend to have. For instance, in the first to third lines, the mirror states that it never lies because it is untainted by dislike or love; these are feelings that are rarely lacking in human beings. So the poem is illustrating how human beings are imperfect and biased because of their sentimentalism. This theme is further echoed in the sixth line where the mirror complains of its separation from the pink wall. The mirror can be seen as a representation of truth while the pink wall represents beauty. If truth and beauty merge then this would be true Nirvana. The forces that separate them i.e. darkness and faces can be regarded as the deceptions that human beings create. By allowing falsehoods (darkness) or people (faces) to get in the way, man is hindered from becoming truly happy.
The poem also addresses the quest for identity that females go through. On the seventh line, the mirror becomes a lake that allows her to search for her inner self. This illustrates that the author of the poem – who is a woman – does not know who she is and looks to external sources to define her. She may have been engrossed with her family or societal roles to the point of losing her real identity. In the eighth line, the writer turns to the candle and the moon. The latter are sources of light that are supposed to increase visibility but they never do so fully. These may represent the state of desperation that the author is in; she wants to look for meaning and will resort to anything that can offer her a response even when she knows that it is a lie. In other words, this woman can never find real fulfillment through substitutes. She may have gone through a tragedy like the loss of love that caused her to be so doubtful and empty.
The theme of aging can also be seen in the ninth and last lines where the author cries upon seeing her reflection in the mirror since there is an old and unattractive woman there. Her looks are now comparable to those of a fish. It can be said that during her youth, the woman was naïve and innocent. However, this all changed with the passage of time and the sweet innocence of youth is now replaced by sadness and depression.