Study guide
She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron analysis (Grade 9)
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- WJEC EDUQAS
Indepth notes for the WJEC English Literature (9-1) specification.
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She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron (P.08)Narrative Lord Byron objectifies the unusual beauty of a women he met at a ball who was in mourning, dressed
in a black dress.
Contexts Written in 1813. Lord Byron wrote during the Romantic period. Byron had a notorious reputation
because of his wild behaviour and his many affairs. He was regarded as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to
know’. He was forced to leave Britain and move to Europe before he died in 1824.
Themes Appearances - While he does Perfection – Byron describes a perfect woman whose beauty
refer to her innocence, Byron could not be improved in any way, quite a conventional idea for a
focuses on the women’s beauty romantic poem, however Byron refers to her using unusual
throughout most of the poem. imagery that create an aspect of singularity.
Literary Anthropomorphism – Through comparing Ambiguity is when describing how her “smiles
Devices the woman to “the night” and focusing that… tell of days in goodness spent” – this is an
primarily on singular features of her face, assumption based purely through her physical
Byron anthropomorphises the women to appearance. The presumed “serenely sweet[ly]
make her seem inhuman – almost goddess- express[ed]” – using sibilance to reflect the softness
like in her beautiful presence. This achieves of her appearance – are not revealed to the reader as
to make her seemingly unobtainable by Lord Byron is unable to access them, this ambiguity
comparing her to something so universal contributing further to an aspect of the unobtainable in
and vast. the woman.
Antithesis - Antithesis plays a large part in the poem as Byron uses this to describe to her unusual
beauty. We see this through using unconventional imagery such as “cloudless” night, the darkness of
which is contrasted by the stars – “all that’s best of dark and bright” are described to “meet in her
aspect and her eyes”. Darkness is often associated with sadness and as Byron based the poem on a
beautiful mourning women, he saw both darkness and light in the subject and how these combined to
make a beautiful. Secondly, “one shade the more, one ray the less” was said to have “half impaired
the nameless grace”, a testament to her perfection that could not be altered in any way.
Key “She walks in beauty” is a more dynamic “Cloudless climes and starry skies” describes a
Language way of expressing her beauty. This makes perfect complexion as well as denying the trope of
her seem a whole, living and breathing comparing a woman to a summer’s day. This captures
entity rather than just a pretty face. This is her unusual beauty, and how she in is mourning, a
an example of anthropomorphism. dark time, but still looks beautiful.
“So soft, so calm, yet eloquent” is written “Softly”, “sweet” and “dear” are adjectives that flirt
using a list of three to contribute to this with femininity, a prominent aspect of the poem’s
feeling of amounting praise throughout the subject as she is noted to be perfect and graceful, as
poem, capturing her incredible beauty. well as revealing the more submissive role that women
were attributed to at the time of writing.
Form and Regular line length with a regular rhyming scheme of ABAB, split into three stanzas of six lines each,
Meter encapsulating an effortless perfection with the idealistic flow.
Structure The poem is written entirely in regular iambic tetrameter starting with an unstressed syllable on each
line, apart from the line “Meet in her aspect and in her eyes” which begins with a stressed syllable.
This metrical inversion draws attention to its rhythm which soon reverts to regularity. Paradoxically,
by subtly breaking this rhythm, Byron brings focus to the regularity of the rest of the poem, an aspect
that is naturally important considering metric regularity reflects the subject’s perfection.
There is a gradual movement from focusing on her physical attributes, featured exclusively in the first
stanza to focusing on her personality in the final stanza, with the second stanza segueing this transition
through attributing her “serenely sweet” thoughts as being expressed by her mouth. This follows
Byron, possibly as they converse and how he begins to know more about who she is and begins to
admire who she is rather than how she appears.
Compare The Manhunt by Simon Armitage Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
s with…
Quotations to remember
She walks in beauty, like the night And all that’s best of dark and bright
Of cloudless climes and starry skies: Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
One shade the more, one ray the less Where thoughts serenely express
Had half impaired the nameless grace How pure, how dear their dwelling place
So calm, so soft, yet eloquent A mind at peace with all below,
The smiles that… tell of days in goodness spent A heart whose love is innocent!
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