This song started as a sonnet, that I posted here, inspired in equal measure by Shakespeare's 22nd sonnet, and the Irish proverb "The eye of a friend is a good mirror." I was never really happy with the ending couplet, though, and realized that it really was meant to be a refrain, rather than a closing thought. So the whole sonnet asked to be a song. And here it is:

A MIRROR CAN NOT LOVE
By Ann Magill

There hangs upon the wall a silvered glass
That prom-is-es to show the truth of things
But its truths are just shadows that will pass
It cannot show the deeper Truth love brings.

Chorus:
A mirror cannot love. A mirror is not wise.
And so I long to see myself reflected in your eyes.

For when I gaze, alone, upon my face
To note the changes Time has rendered there,
Then vanity and dread both leave their trace,
And I see less of Truth than Pride, and Fear.

Chorus:

A mirror cannot see, nor is it wise.
And so, I long, again, for all those times
I saw myself reflected in your eyes
Those days we shared our tears, and sang our rhymes.

Chorus:

To hear the tune, cut and paste the following abc text into the message window at this link. Make sure you have your pop-up blockers turned off.

X:1
T:A Mirror Can Not Love
M:3/4
Q:1/4=95
K:C
A,A,2CC2|EE2DC2|B,C5|EG2ED2|CD2EF2|GE5|CC2A,A,2|
B,E2DC2|B,A,5|CC2EE2|FG2FE2|B,2C4|-C2DD2G|
G2FE3|-EA,A,2DD|-DCB,4|CC2DD2|EF2GF2|EE2DC2|
B,2C4|-C7/4||