Summary and theme of She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron- HSC English 1st paper

Summary and theme of She Walks in Beauty

by Lord Byron- HSC English 1st paper

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!

Theme: "She Walks in Beauty" is a love poem written by Lord Byron in 1814. In this poem, Byron describes a woman's extraordinary beauty. Throughout the poem, he explains the woman’s physical beauty as well as her spiritual and intellectual beauty. It was clear that Lord Byron was writing about a woman whom he thought very highly of. Lord Byron’s first verse had convinced that the woman in his poem was one whom he’d merely caught a glimpse of. The poem is about an unnamed woman. She's really quite striking, and the speaker compares her to lots of beautiful, but dark, things, like "night" and "starry skies." The second stanza continues to use the contrast between light and dark, day and night, to describe her beauty. We also learn that her face is really "pure" and "sweet." The third stanza wraps it all up – she's not just beautiful, she's "good" and "innocent," to boot. The mention of her sweet, pure thoughts and her innocent heart provided the possibility that Lord Byron loved this beautiful woman.