She Walks in Beauty -- Lord Byron
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
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;
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,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
posted by Brady Kelso @ 8:36 AM
2 Comments:
Period 1
• Lord Byron (1788-1824)
• 'She Walks in Beauty' was made in 1814, published in 1815.
• English Romantic Poet
• The "She" in this poem is Mrs. Wilmot, a cousin of Lord Byron's.
• Lord Byron met Mrs. Wilmot for the first time at a dance. She was
wearing a black dress.
• Love Poem; Lord Byron speaks greatly about "She"
• Three six-line stanzas (ababab) that rhymes
• Contrasts Dark and Night
• Imagery
• Iambic Tetrameter
• Contrasts Physical Appearance and Personality
• Physical Appearance is only of the head (hair, face, skin color)
• Usage of enjambment
• Enjambment – The continuation of a complete idea (a sentence or
clause) from one line or couplet of a poem to the next line or couplet
without a pause
• Enjambment is used in the first four lines (1-2, 3-4) in the first
stanza, and in the last two lines in the second stanza
• Positive comments (love poem); has a tone that is admiring and worshipping.
• The tone is constant throughout
In the first line, Lord Byron introduces "She." He says it is night
(dark), but then says afterward that it is of "cloudless climes
(climate) and starry skies." This is the exact opposite of what is
said in the first line (night/dark), since stars light up the night
(produces a light effect and introduces a dark/light contrast). The
third line continues with the dark/light contrast. In the fourth line,
Lord Byron introduces "aspect and her eyes." A definition of aspect is
physical appearance. This then makes the eyes "see through the
person;" in other words, their personality and mind. The fifth and
sixth line in the first stanza continues the dark and light contrast;
It states that "She" is of a "tender light" that could not be compared
to "heaven (positive)" or "gaudy (Showy, tasteless in a vulgar
way/negative) day."
In the second stanza, the first two line states that if "She" is
different in any way (One shade the more, one ray the less), then
"She" will be "half impair'd," or not as perfect as Lord Byron first
portrayed the "nameless grace." The third and fourth line has a dark
and light contrast. Raven (dark) tress (hair) is used in the third
line, but Lord Byron quickly makes a connection between the first and
second line with the fourth line - "softly lightens o'er her face."
While the third and fourth line is about the physical appearance of
"She", the fifth and sixth line is about her personality and her mind.
The fifth line states how she is capable of speaking her thoughts
(thoughts ~ express), and how what she thinks (dwelling place) and
speaks is "pure."
The third stanza finishes the poem by recollecting what is said in the
first and second stanza. The first three lines introduces once again
the physical appearance of "She." The last three lines is an
explanation of how her bright personality is shown in her physical
appearance through her "smiles that win" and her "tints (skin color)
that glow."
-Poem was written in 1814 by Lord Byron who was an English Romantic Poet.
-Poem was written when Lord Byron first laid eyes on his cousin, Anne Wilmot.
-When Byron first saw her, she was wearing a black dress with sparkling sequins.
-The poem features two contrasting forces: light and dark
-The two forces are contrasted mainly to demonstrate the "large spectrum" of a woman's beauty. (internal and external)
-The "dark contrasts" are also used to represent his cousin's black dress, with the "light contrasts" representing the shiney sequins on her dress.
-Poem incorporates the "light and dark" effect immediately, in the first line.
-Byron also contrasts inner and outer beauty throughout the poem as well: "which waves in every raven tress..." vs. "a heart whose love is innocent."
-Physical descriptions Byron includes in the poem regard his cousin's cheek, brow, smile, and skin color.
-Inner beauty he describes includes the mind, heart, and innocense.
-Byron also describes in the poem how her inner beauty (innocence, good heart) casually effect her outter beauty
-At one point Byron claims that she is perfect as is and wouldn't be as beautiful if anything were to change.
-Second stanza focuses on physical description.
-Third stanza focuses on inner beauty.
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