On Looking Into The Eyes Of A Demon Lover, Sylvia Plath, Analysis & Explanation
Overview: This poem, titled "On Looking Into The Eyes Of A Demon Lover," is a work by the renowned poet Sylvia Plath. It is a short, five-stanza poem that explores the transformative power of a demon's eyes. Plath vividly describes how looking into these eyes can turn even the most beautiful of women into toads and invert the world around them. The poem ends on a note of ambiguity, as the speaker seeks her own image in the demon's eyes, only to find the reflection of the goddess Venus. Text of the Poem Here are two pupils
whose moons of black
transform to cripples
all who look:
each lovely lady
who peers inside
take on the body
of a toad.
Within these mirrors
the world inverts:
the fond admirer's
burning darts
turn back to injure
the thrusting hand
and inflame to danger
the scarlet wound.
I sought my image
in the scorching glass,
for what fire could damage
a witch's face?
So I stared in that furnace
where beauties char
but found radiant Venus
reflected the…