ABSTRACT
The Bible is undeniably the primary source and inspiration for the poem, with the New Testament playing a slightly greater role than the Old TestaO ment.3 The narrator in the Mirror is identified as the sinful Soul (the word dme being of feminine gender in French) and speaks of herself in the first perO son.4 “The subject of the poem is both personal and universal, a single dme pecheresse and every single dme pecheresse from Adam onwards” (Ferguson 61). This is one among the many reflective dimensions of the poem.5 The Mirror begins with a detailed description of the Soul’s enslavement to sin (11. 1-94) that examines man’s fallen nature and misery in the absence of God. The narrative then moves from the depths of terrestrial anguish to Biblical paraphrases and meditations on the word of God. In this second segment (11. 95-852), the narrator distinguishes herself in a number of roles, specified by what she envisions as her fourfold relationship to Jesus: prodigal daughter, neglectful mother, seditious sister, and lecherous wife. Considering herself in these roles, she reveals how biblical stories are played out in her own life: namely those of the prodigal son, the judgment of Solomon, the defiance of Miriam, and the infidelity of Hosea’s wife. With each parable, the Soul demonstrates how, despite her sinfulness, she is welcomed into God’s emO brace. Ultimately, The Mirror o f the Sinful Soul is a celebration of God’s grace. The final movement of the poem (11. 853-1034) relates the ecstatic recO onciliation between the sinful Soul and her Creator. The three-part movement of the poem, reflecting the three stages of the Bonaventurean triplica via (Sommers 1989) and the pattern of spiritual ascent of Psalm 51 (Cottrell 90), mirrors the spiritual progression of the conversion experience.
