Naked Girl and Mirror

"Naked Girl and Mirror"
by Judith Wright
Written	1966
First published in	The Other Half : Poems
Country	Australia
Language	English
Lines	35

"Naked Girl and Mirror" (1966) is a poem by Australian poet Judith Wright. ^[1]

It was originally published in the poet's collection The Other Half : Poems in 1946, ^[2] and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Synopsis

The poem explores some aspects of body image as a young girl, on the edge of puberty, exmaines herself in a mirror. She sees her reflection as something other than her real self, "This is not I", and wonders how it came to be.

Critical reception

In his book Reading Australian Poetry Andrew Taylor commented that Wright looks at the difference between "the child's absence of body and the mature woman's bodliness", concluding that "we also have a contrast between the already accomplished fulfilment of the child, and the uncertainty of the future fulfilment; and this possible future fulfilment contrasts with the child's solipistic self-sufficiency by being dependent on someone else, on another." ^[3]

Reviewing the poem for The California Journal of Women Writers Jennifer Messing noted "In trying to figure out where this body came from and who ordered the curves and lines of womanhood to be imposed upon her, she also tries to find out who the woman in the mirror really is. She is detached from the lovely image, yet bound to it by expectation and truth." ^[4]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in The Other Half : Poems it was reprinted as follows:

• Australian Poetry 1966 edited by David Campbell, Angus and Robertson, 1948 ^[5]
• Poetry from Australia : Judith Wright, William Hart-Smith, Randolph Stow edited by Howard Sergeant, Pergamon Press, 1969 ^[6]
• Judith Wright : Collected Poems, 1942-1970 by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1971 ^[7]
• Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton, Rigby, 1976 ^[8]
• Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Mark O'Connor, Oxford University Press, 1988 ^[9]
• A Human Pattern : Selected Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1990 ^[10]
• Collected Poems 1942-1985 by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1994 ^[11]
• Seven Centuries of Poetry in English edited by John Leonard, Oxford University Press, 2003 ^[12]
• The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella, Penguin, 2009 ^[13]
• Sense, Shape, Symbol : An Investigation of Australian Poetry edited by Brian Keyte, Phoenix Education, 2012 ^[14]

See also

• 1966 in Australian literature
• 1966 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit — "Naked Girl and Mirror" by Judith Wright". Austlit. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
2. "The Other Half : Poems by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
3. Reading Australian Poetry by Andrew Taylor, University of NSW Press, 1987, p85-87.
4. ""Naked Girl and Mirror by Judith Wright"". The California Journal of Women Writers. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
5. "Australian Poetry 1966 edited by David Campbell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
6. "Poetry from Australia : Judith Wright, William Hart-Smith, Randolph Stow edited by Howard Sergeant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
7. "Judith Wright : Collected Poems, 1942-1970 (A&R)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
8. "Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
9. "Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Mark O'Connor". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
10. "A Human Pattern : Selected Poems by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
11. "Collected Poems 1942-1985 by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
12. "Seven Centuries of Poetry in English edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
13. "The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
14. "Sense, Shape, Symbol : An Investigation of Australian Poetry edited by Brian Keyte". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 26 November 2025.