"She Walks in Beauty" is a poem written in 1814

1814 in poetry

* Augusta Gordon bore her half-brother Lord Byron's daughter* July 27 - Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin elope to war-ravaged France, accompanied by Godwin's stepsister, Mary Jane Clairmont, 16; the trio quickly moves on to Switzerland...

 by Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...

. One of Lord Byron’s most famous, it is a narrative poem that describes a woman of much beauty and elegance. The poem appears to be told from the view point of third person omniscient. There are no hints as to the identity of the narrator, but it is believed that the narrator may be Byron himself. The poem is said to have been inspired by the vision of Byron’s cousin by marriage in a mourning gown

Gown

A gown is a loose outer garment from knee- to full-length worn by men and women in Europe from the early Middle Ages to the 17th century ; later, gown was applied to any woman's garment consisting of a bodice and attached skirt.A long, loosely-fitted gown called a Banyan was worn by men in the 18th...

. It was the first of several poems to be set to Jewish tunes from the synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 by Isaac Nathan

Isaac Nathan

Isaac Nathan was an Anglo-Australian composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who ended an eventful career by becoming the "father of Australian music".-Early success:...

, which were published as Hebrew Melodies

Hebrew Melodies

Hebrew Melodies is both a book of songs with lyrics written by Lord Byron set to Jewish tunes by Isaac Nathan as well as a book of poetry containing Byron's lyrics alone. It was published in April 1815 with musical settings by John Murray; though expensive at a cost of one guinea, over 10,000...

in 1815

1815 in poetry

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 2 — Leigh Hunt released from prison after being jailed for criticizing the Prince Regent in The Examiner...

.

Author

"She Walks in Beauty" was written by George Gordon Noel Byron, also known as Lord Byron, who was one of the most influential writers of his time. Byron was born on 22 January 1788 to Captain “Mad Jack” Byron and Catherine Gordon. After losing his father at a young age and inheriting the family title and estate, he went on to Harrow school, followed by an attendance to Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, Byron went on to have many travels and to develop a career

Career

Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....

 that was very successful. Byron died of malaria in April 1824.

Analysis

"She Walks in Beauty" is one of Byron’s most famous works. It was published in 1815 as a part of his volume Hebrew Melodies, which was set to music. The poem was inspired by actual events in Byron’s life. Once, while at a ball, Byron happened upon a beautiful woman as she walked by. That woman was Byron’s cousin by marriage, Mrs. John Wilmot, and the next morning the poem was written. She was in mourning

Mourning

Mourning is, in the simplest sense, synonymous with grief over the death of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate...

, wearing a black dress set with spangles, which would explain the opening lines;
However, Nathan, in his reminiscences of Byron, indicates that the subject of the poem may have been Byron's half-sister, Augusta. "She Walks in Beauty" is considered to have been Byron’s tribute to the beauty of art. The poem begins with the image of a woman who “walks in beauty like the night” (poem), which would lead the reader to ask how she could be found. That question is answered in the next line when the speaker says that the night is cloudless and that the stars illuminate the sky, bringing into focus the imagery of light and darkness. When the first line of a poem is presented with no punctuation, but is followed by a line that will clarify the previous statement, it is referred to as enjambment, and this technique is used in the first four lines of the poem. In the next few lines Byron draws attention to the word meet; it emphasizes the contrasts in the woman being described; the imagery presented in the first two lines reappears in these lines, and the contrast of light and dark makes another appearance. The light and dark appear in her face and in her eyes. Her face contains light alabaster skin, yet has dark hair, and her eyes are dark in the iris in contrast with the white of her eye. This repeat of the contrast between light and dark reinforces the imagery introduced in the beginning of the poem. The poem goes on to say that if she were to have even one bit more light or less dark she would not be ruined but she would be only “half impair’d”. As the poem begins to end Byron speaks of the woman’s inner thoughts and how they are all good, which serves to convey the woman as pure , making her all the more beautiful. The reference to her angelic looks gives a window into her morality as a person, and enhances her beauty all the more. According to Uma Kukathas there is a contrast of light and dark in the poem can easily be a representation of what art is in its entirety; there are so many varying, contrasting parts of art and yet it all comes together to create something that is beautiful. The contrast of light and dark is used to convey the soft beauty of the woman; the beauty is soft and pronounced but not overdone. The woman’s beauty is soft like candlelight, it is not too over powering and yet her beauty is still obvious to all who look at her. The dark part of the contrast serves as a reality check to make the woman seem more worldly and real, it creates flaws and yet if she were to have even one bit more light or darkness she would only be “half-impaired”. Byron speaks of her “nameless grace”, in which one would think he were speaking of her grace as she walks but, he is really speaking of the grace she possesses from the darker features of her face, which serve to enhance her beauty in the speakers eyes.