Janie Cherestal

“The Mirror and the Mask” was one of Borges more complicated stories. It described a poet’s attempt to create the perfect poem about a war as a favor for the king. As a thank-you, the king gives the poet a mask for the first poem, then a mirror for the second. However, with each poem, the poet displays physical changes, and by his last poem, looks like a completely different person. This poem is just one line, and the king states that it is the most beautiful thing in the universe. With that, he gives the poet a dagger, which he uses to kill himself, and the king becomes a beggar. I felt confused at to what this one line was, and wondered if it was the name of God. This would explain why the king called it the most perfect piece he ever seen, and why the poet commits suicide, for Borges had stated in one of his stories that men are not meant to discover God’s name.