Annotated analysis of the poem Reflection

¶ … swift-flowing stream the reflections of things near or far are always indistinct; even if the water is clear and has no foam, reflections in the constant stream of ripples, the restless kaleidoscope of water, are still uncertain, vague, incomprehensible.

Only when the water has flowed down river after river and reaches a broad, calm estuary or comes to rest in some backwater or a small, still lake -- only then can we see in its mirrorlike smoothness every leaf of a tree on the bank, every wisp of a cloud, and the deep blue expanse of the sky.

It is the same with our lives. If so far we have been unable to see clearly or to reflect the eternal lineaments of truth, is it not because we too are still moving towards some end -- because we are still alive?

The poem "Reflection" appears to be a simple, prose paragraph, but the work is actually an extended simile between human life and the flow of water. The poem makes an analogy between observing a stream and observing human life. While we are absorbed in the immediate actions of our lives, we have difficulty appreciating our ultimate purpose, and the beauty of the minute details of the things that make life meaningful. That is why observing life's course is like observing a stream. When life is moving fast, the reflections of the leaves of the nearby trees and the clouds in the sky are indistinct on the surface of the water.

This metaphor indicates how the people around us, symbolized by the sky and trees, are hidden in terms of their motivations. We are obsessed with our own lives, obsessed with moving forward. Our own inner conflicts are also hidden by motion, symbolized by the stream's rush concealing what lies beneath the water. Even in a pure, clean life of goodness, the motion of existence confuses the person, and makes him or her thinks that certain things are more important than they actually are in the grand scheme of the world.

As the stream slows, and we age, we begin to observe others more closely. This is symbolized by how the stream, when a lake, eventually can accurately mirror rather than blur the images of the leaves of the trees and the clouds. The lives of others and the humanity of others become clearer as we approach our ultimate destination at the end of life. Only at the end of life, with the inner stillness that we achieve, can we appreciate the subjectivity of others and the impermanence of our own existence.

The atmosphere of the poem is almost Zen-like in stress upon how human beings need to achieve a sense of calmness and quiet within themselves to appreciate life. It also suggests that the purpose of life is reflective: to see things, like the leaves and the clouds, as they truly are, rather than to obscure them in light of our own personal obsessions and interests. A rushing stream is not a good mirror, but still water reveals the texture of the leaves: just as 'reflection' is the ultimate, higher purpose of the stream, so reflection is the purpose of human life.

However, "Reflection" also suggests that achieving such a state of inner calm while alive is impossible, and may be too difficult a goal: just like even the purest moving stream is not reflective, even the best of us find ourselves in a world that is, like the motion of rushing water "uncertain, vague, incomprehensible." Only when someone lives in a "backwater" -- in the obscurity of old age and impending death is there any true perspective and clarity in the human mind.