Poetry is a way of expressing thoughts and emotions through complex uses of words and phrases. Poetry can express many emotions and mean many different things to many different people. The poem She Walks In Beauty, written by Lord Byron, is a lyrical poem that expresses the love of Lord Byron to an unnamed lady. The poet Lord Byron is also known as George Gorden and is a renowned poet. He was a poet of the 19th century and is an outstanding figure in the Romantic movement. The Romantic Era revolved around dreams, fantasy, and nature. Through the analysis of the poem, it is evident that Byron is a talented wordsmith that used many techniques that work extremely well together to create one of his most famous works, She Walks in Beauty.
When first reading this poem it is very evident that the poem is a love poem even though the poem never mentions the word ‘love.’ In saying this it is hard to understand the concept of the story and the type of love being expressed. This is made clear when the poem is broken down and the themes of the subject matter, purpose, and gender are made evident. It can be assumed throughout the wording of the text that the love portrayed is unrequited and one of admiration as the subject is a beautiful woman. The wording of the lines created by Byron shows that he met this beautiful lady at a party who happens to be his Cousin's wife, Mrs. Anne Beatrix Wilmot. Byron uses phrases relating to things such as skies and clouds to express this particular love typical of the Romantic Era between the subject and nature. The purpose of this poem follows a romantic trend right throughout the poem constantly relating to the subject matter of the admiration of a very beautiful woman. The poet has constructed this poem with the intent of expressing his feelings through written work. He has also made another prominent theme throughout the poem. This is the concept of gender and how the individual is portrayed, Byron emphasizes that the female is so beautiful. The subject of the poem is easily identified as a female from the pronouns used. It is also seen within the first half of the poem the poet solely focused on the subject of appearance, and ideals that are usually suited to a female, he also used more feminine phrases and adjectives.
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The mood of the poem is extremely well constructed by the poet and that is he is in awe and wonder of this beautiful being. All through, right throughout the poem Byron never mentions the word ‘love’ It is quite evident by the way he has constructed this poem that there is some kind of ‘love at first sight scenario demonstrated. The way that Byron has displayed this throughout the poem creates emotions of amazement that something so perfect can exist. The way that the poet has expressed the beauty of the lady is not of the typical standards which perhaps brings disbelief and surprise. The woman in the poem is described to have darker features as opposed to fair, which is not usually seen as the most beautiful. She Walks in Beauty, is constructed with 3 stanzas enclosing 6 lines each. All lines within the poem consist of 8 syllables a line except one which contains 9. It is clear to see that Byron hoped to create this poem with 8 syllables in each line. Lord Byron uses expressive and appropriate language that is not necessarily used in today's society to depict the subject matter and fit the theme of the poem. He used words such as ‘climes,’ ‘gaudy’ and ‘serenely.’ The poet also used words such as ‘tender,’ ‘mellowed,’ ‘grace,’ ‘pure’ and ‘eloquent.’ Using these kinds of words also gives the poem a less intense and calming vibe.
She Walks in Beauty is a lyrical poem and it becomes clear that Byron has cleverly manipulated particular sounds and movements of words to assemble a detailed poem with the use of imagery, personification, metaphors, similes, and alliteration. The poem starts with the first line being a simile ‘She walks in beauty like the night’ Byron then continues to go into more depth with this simile to express her dark features. Byron uses personification throughout the first beginning with ‘heaven to gaudy day denies’ as heaven is not a living thing that can deny certain things. As well as the phrase ‘The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent’ once again as smiles and tints can not talk to tell of days in goodness spent. There are also uses of metaphors seen in line 12 when Byron refers to the lady's character as a ‘dwelling place’. There are numerous times that alliteration was used within the poem examples include ‘cloudless climes, best and bright and days denies.’ As the poem is lyrical movement generated tends to heavily depend on the beat used ‘She Walks in Beauty’ has a definite rhythm to it following on from its structured syllable count. The poem also is of an iambic pentameter meaning the poem has an emphasis on the second syllable thus making the rhythm sound like a heartbeat. Each Stanza follows an ABAB rhyming scheme except for line 13 but it can be noticed that the poet used the same ending of the words even though they don't rhyme. This rhyming pattern gives off a distinct sound that the reader finds catchy. This shows that many factors are contributing to the phenomenal work created by Lord Byron and shows why his work is so popular.
Lord Byron has created many exceptional pieces of work including the famous poem, She Walks in Beauty which shows how many elements can be used together to create a unique piece of literature. The themes are seen within the poem; subject matter, purpose, and gender were all represented in a way that is relatable to all readers. The techniques used by Byron showed what he wanted to portray through emotions, language, and imagery. Lastly, the structure of Byron's poem shaped the emotions and feelings that he wanted to be shown through the words. The rhythm created needed to be memorable and that was done through the movement and sounds. With all these elements combined truly show why lord Byron is such an influential writer.
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