She Walks in Beauty- Poem

Title: She Walks in Beauty

Author: Lord Byron

Speaker: The poem is told from the perspective of someone who is in love with the woman that is being described. There are no hints that point towards the fact that both the characters know each other. Even more, specific phrases such as “nameless grace” or “tell of” give the impression that the person who loves the woman has never actually met her, but rather just admired her from afar. This admiration for the woman is the tone that is set throughout the entire piece and the speaker falls deeply into reverence of the mysterious woman, her beauty, and her pureness.

Structure: The poem is divided into three stanzas, each with six lines that are formatted in the same way. The lines have a pattern that goes: no indent, indent, no indent, and indent. I believe this pattern is set to give a rhythmic tone to the poem, and if taken very far it could even be argued that the author wants to imitate the rhythm of walking because of the title. The ideas of the piece are stipulated in a specific order, where the first stanza deals with her physical fairness and the power that this trait has. The second stanza touches upon the subject of perfection and how the smallest of changes would have ruined her image. It also deals with her pureness of the mind. The last stanza is corroboration to what has been said before, and the speaker draws a conclusion form all that has been described before: that her “love is innocent”.

Theme: The poem deals with love, and this is expressed through various examples. It highlights the fact that the woman is perfect not only in the physical aspect which is proved by the comparisons to magnificent nature, but also in the spiritual way which is stated by pointing towards a good heart, a pure mind, and a fair personality.

Figures of speech: Lord Byron used different literary devices throughout the text. In the first line, for example, there is a simile that compares the woman to the night and its beauty. This makes the image of beauty more objective because an example of what is beautiful to the writer gives other people the chance to measure this beauty with their own scales. The author also uses alliteration in phrases like “cloudless climes and starry skies” that put emphasis on what is being said. Personification is another device that is commonly used in this poem and this is the case because by giving static objects qualities of life scenes come to life and beauty is accented.