By Lord Byron
Lord Byron was born in 1788 in Scotland. When he was 10, he moved
to England with his mother. He went through many loves as a young
child, and in his early adulthood had many affairs with married women.
He became close to his half sister, with many accusation of incest, but
he insisted it was innocent. His half sister is the one this poem is
thought to be about. He would leave England in 1816 due to scandal,
where he would live out the rest of his life living through mainland
Europe. He died in 1824
She walks in beauty
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that 's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
5
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
10
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 15
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
Paraphrasing
She is beautiful at night, and the light of the stars shows it.
Light and the darkness both complement her eyes.
The light cast upon her at night is much gentler,
much heavenlier than the light of day.
If the perfect balance of light and dark she holds were thrown off,
she would still be half beautiful.
Her dark locks of hair express the darkness in her beauty,
and her pale face does the same for light.
This face so balanced between light in dark encompasses
all the sweet and pure thoughts she has.
And on her cheek and on her eyebrow,
her face is so soft, calm, and eloquent.
She has a beautiful smile, and a shade of skin that glows,
all that shows her goodness.
She has a peaceful mind, and loves innocently.
Diction
The poem starts with a fairly colloquial vocabulary, but
then progressed to be more formal and complicated. This can
be seen when comparing the first line "She walks in beauty,
like the night", which is easily understood and interpreted,
to a line like "Thus mellow'd to that tender light, Which
heaven to gaudy day denies". Though presenting a dreamlike
feel, anything pertaining to the woman described wording
wise is fairly concrete and vivid, making sure to give
straight forward descriptions that go into much detail about
her beauty.
Tone and Mood
A very calm, serene mood is very evident. It is also clear
the tone is that of adoration for the woman whom the poem
revolves around, perhaps even love for this woman. Seemingly
the poet wanted to make it very obvious to the readers that
this woman is the definition of beauty, at least in his
eyes, and wants the reader to understand his feelings toward
who she was and how she looked. By doing so, he creates a
dreamlike atmosphere, and a subtle feeling of
unattainability. When I read this poem I pictured an almost
angelic like woman, someone beyond anyone's grasp, and I
thought of the poet as a man who adored her for this.
Rhetorical Situation
The poet is speaking, but never clearly
defines himself as the speaker, and it
appears he is speaking or thinking to
himself of how beautiful this woman is,
and the reader is over hearing in a way,
or maybe he is intentionally speaking to
the reader in order to share the beauty
of this woman with those who can never
see her.
Figurative Language
As far as figurative language goes, this poem
contains a simile a personification. The
only simile he uses can be found in the
first line "She walks in beauty, like the
night" and a personification can be seen
when he describes day as being gaudy
and denying her of her beauty. Overall it
has very little figurative language.
Imagery
Most of the poem is imagery, since its purpose is to
describe this unnamed beauty, so the poet paints mental
images in every line. The overall poem creates an image of a
beautiful woman, who embodies both dark and light, who
intertwines the two to make the most flawless beauty. This
is a beauty so great day cannot do it justice, and it only
can be properly seen under the gentle envelopment of
starlight. Beyond just her appearance, he adds to the image
of this woman be describing her purity, how she has an
untroubled innocent mind, and how her smiles show her life
of goodness. These inner qualities make her calming beauty
almost angelic in purity.
Sound Devices
The poet incorporated sound devices to a large
extent to help support his poem. Rhymes can be
easily seen, along with alliterations, and
assonance. The poem takes on a simple rhyme
scheme of ABABABCDCDCDEFEFEF.
Alliterations can be seen throughout the poem,
such as in the line "Which heaven to gaudy day
denies", and the line "Where thoughts serenely
sweet express". It also seems there assonance
with the vowel o, supported by the use of the
word O'er.
Structure
This poem is written in iambic tetrameter
and is split up into 3 stanzas, each of
which contain a similar rhyme scheme,
giving ABABAB to the first stanza,
CDCDCD to the second, and EFEFEF
to the third.
Conclusion
The author got the intended mood across
very well, its clear why this is a famous
poem. His use of darkness and light to
describe her beauty was very unique,
and the dreamlike atmosphere of the
poem gave the woman an ethereal feel,
further supporting her inhuman beauty.
Lord Byron wanted to make it clear she
was beautiful, and expertly did
Personal Reactions
At first this poem didn’t appeal to me, but as I
looked at it more, a couple details really stood
out to me that I liked. His use of dark and light
in describing her seemed so unconventional
and unique that it really appealed to me, it
gave the woman a different feel than you
might expect to find in someone described in a
poem. Other than that, the poem didn’t stand
out much to me. I didn’t really have much to
relate to either, because he was far to
obsessed with the woman in the poem, and it
seemed way too over the top for me.
Works Cited
"Lord Byron." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 13 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Feb.
2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron>.
Bartleby.com. "600. She Walks in Beauty. George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron.
The Oxford Book of English Verse." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Jan. 1999. Web. 13
Feb. 2011. <http://www.bartleby.com/101/600.html>.
"She Walks In Beauty." Web log post. Intro To Poetry. 9 Sept. 2007. Web. 13
Feb. 2011. <http://semckinn.blogspot.com/2007/09/she-walks-inbeauty.html>.
Lopez, Charles. "She Walks in Beauty." Web log post. BlogSpot, 8 Sept. 2007.
Web. 12 Feb. 2011. <http://charles-intro.blogspot.com/2007/09/she-walksin-beauty.html>.
"She Walks in Beauty." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 13
Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Walks_in_Beauty>.