Tag Archives: Pose Me

As Unique and Impossible As a Shadow

“Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.”

W.H. Auden wrote in his collection of prose essays, The Dyer’s Hand, ““Every man carries within him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.” Then he went on to suggest a good parlor game would be to look at different people and imagine the kinds of mirrors they might be carrying. One might be carrying a gilt baroque hand mirror, another a small compact mirror in a leather case, each of them, carrying mirrors that by design and dimension reveal their character.

I don’t know want my unique mirror would look like. I have one mirror that I purchased that goes over my dresser. It’s huge and heavy and requires two people to shift, framed in a beautiful dark cherry but free of ornamentation or embellishments. That is the kind of mirror I chose to buy, but does it reveal anything about me other than I dislike dusting? I don’t know.
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