Beauty refers to the characteristic of a person, animal, object, idea, or place, which provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, satisfaction, or meaning. As the old saying goes, beauty lies on the eyes of the beholder. It is studied as part of psychology, aesthetics, culture and social psychology. However, there are two sides of beauty; the internal and external beauty. External beauty is the most preferred by many. Nevertheless, internal beauty also has admirers. In this paper, I will provide an insightful explication of the poem “She walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron.
The poem was written in 1814 and later published the following year in “Hebrew Melodies”. According to analysts, the poem was written upon Byron’s cousin, Mrs. Wilmot. It also asserted that the author was inspired by his cousin’s beauty when he had attended a party at Lady Sitwell’s, some months before he got married to his wife, Anna Milbanke ().
is written in iambic tetrameter, “a meter commonly found in hymns and associated with ‘sincerity’ and ‘simplicity’ (). In the poem, Byron praises a woman’s beauty. He not only focuses his writing on the external appearance of the woman, but also glorifies the internal aspect of the woman, thereby making the woman more praiseworthy and divine.
In the first stanza of the poem, the author describes the physical appearance of the woman. He begins the poem by writing “She walks in beauty, like the night Of Cloudless climes and starry skies” (p. 1-2). In these lines, the author makes a creation of dark clear sky with bright twinkling stars. He also contrasts the light and darkness. In this contrast, the author brings out the clothes that the woman was wearing: the black dress that had spackles on it. He also represents the difference of the black eyes and the white parts of the woman’s eyes. In the poem’s next line, the differences of brightness and darkness feature again. The author continues to use the contrast of imagery in the last lines of the first stanza. These contrasts show that the woman that the author is writing about is in perfect balance.
The second stanza continues to praise the woman’s beauty. Byron extends the external beauty of the woman onto her personality in line 11. He also tells us that the woman’s great face would be damaged by even a slight change on it. From the poets phrase “Half Impaired” (p. 8), we could derive two meanings. Either the author intends to say that despite any destruction of the balance, the beauty would still be perfect because it is only half impaired, or the author simply meant that the woman’s beauty is “full” and should not be destroyed into “half”. The author goes ahead to use “nameless grace (p. 8) to indicate that the beauty cannot be defined or given expressions in terms of names. Additionally, line 9 represents the time when the poet wrote this work and explains that the black hair was highly valued at that time as extraordinary. Since this woman had this distinctive hair, her beauty differentiated her from other women. In the last two lines of the poem; “Where thoughts serenely sweet express/ How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.,” (p. 11-12), the author starts to bring the aspect of internal beauty of the woman. He shows the reflection of the woman’s inner beauty in her appearance. He uses “Dwelling place” to indicate where the woman’s spirit and mind belong, and indicates that it is pure and sweet. This also shows a perfect balance since the woman shows balance of beauty both internally and externally.
According to form, the poet uses the ABABAB-CDCDCD-EFEFEF form. The organized form used in the poem is consistent with the balanced beauty of the woman it describes. Additionally, the author uses rhymes in the poem. He also use poetic such as personification (p. 15 & 18), synesthesia (p. 5), similes and metaphors (p. 1, 8 & 9), and metonymies. In addition to these, he also uses enjambment, alliteration, and imagery.
For women who read this poem, it is inspirational since it represents the woman they would wish to be. It is also appealing to men since the poem brings out the type of woman they would all wish to be with them: naturally beautiful, has a tender heart, good looking, calm and attractive. She is as quiet as the night according to Byron. She does not show off, but men turn around to look at her beauty. The poem flows effortlessly, perfectly, representing the way decent women walk in their best dresses to impress.
Work Cited:
Byron Lord. She walks in beauty. Works of Lord Byron: Mobi Collected Works. London: Mobile Reference Publisher, 2010. Print.
