She Walks in Beauty

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She Walks In Beauty

by 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 mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired 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!

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This is one of Lord Byron’s most famous poems. It is 18 lines, comprised of three sestets, and is in iambic tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is ABABAB CDCDCD and EFEFEF.

The poem is about a specific woman. Her name was Anne Beatrix Wilmot. She was the wife of Lord Byron’s cousin, Sir Robert Wilmot. (Feel free to mull over whether you’d be comfortable having a cousin write a poem like this one about your spouse.)

Lord George Gordon Byron was the bad boy of the poetry world in the early 1800s. His lifestyle and exploits were so audacious that he was exiled (voluntarily) from Britain. He was also well-known for how handsome he was.

So… maybe this isn’t the guy you want flirting with your wife, even if he is your cousin.

In the poem, Byron’s Speaker compares the unique beauty of the woman about whom he is talking to the night, rather than to the day. He spends the rest of the short poem making the analogy.

Lines 1 – 6

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 mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

Byron utilizes a few devices in this stanza, including simile (line 1 – “like the night”), alliteration (“cloudless climes” and “starry skies”) and enjambment (likes 5-6.)

On the subject of the alliteration, the juxtaposition of the harsh sounding “cloudless climes” with the much easier and softer “starry skies” imbues the Speaker’s subject with a sense of balance. This is purposeful as much of the poem is attempting to balance her inner beauty with her outer form. It also matches the poet’s constant juxtaposition between the day and night – with day being presented in line six as “gaudy.”

Lines 7 – 12

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired 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.

The juxtaposition we saw in the first stanza continues here, wherein the we see the poet in line 7 pairing the wors “shade” and “ray.” He continues by telling us the subject’s “raven” dark hair “lightens” her face.

The subject’s beauty for the Speaker seems to be that she joins both darkness and light and unifies them.

Byron uses more alliteration again in this stanza: “had half”, “which waves”, “serenely sweet.”

Lines 13 – 18

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!

This stanza gives us more specifics regarding what Byron found so attractive. He describes her as soft, calm, at peace, and innocent. Those words also might accurately describe the night to which he compares her in the first stanza. It is at night that we sleep. Perhaps Byron saw something in her that he lacked in himself.

For a great analysis of the poem, please let me direct you to the video below: