I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
-- Speaker (Line 1)

Importance: These lines open the poem, and are significant because they capture the moment the speaker first introduces itself. Two concise and simple phrases, juxtaposed within one line, foreground how the speaker will characterize itself throughout the rest of the poem: a vehicle of objectivity. The descriptor “silver and exact,” also succinctly reveals that the speaker is a mirror, which is essential information to understand the rest of the poem.

Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. / I am not cruel, only truthful.”
-- Speaker (Lines 3 – 4)

Importance: In these lines, occurring shortly after the first stanza opening, the speaker emphasizes again its objectivity and truthfulness, diverting us from the idea that the speaker has a personal or emotional stake in the distress it causes later on in the poem. This set of quotes is significant because it reveals a clear aim that the speaker...