“She Walks in Beauty” Explication
(English Literature for BS English, M.A English, and competitive exams)
For College & University Students
By embracing the concept of self-expression, the poet, Lord Byron,
has brought together the use of imagination and deep emotion in order to
show his admiration for a woman of beauty. "She walks in Beauty" is a love
poem in which the poet illustrates the physical beauties of such a woman
and compares her qualities to the forces of light and darkness. Throughout
the poem, the poet accentuates all aspects of her beauty in order to make it
seem as if she were the perfect woman.
In the first two lines of the first stanza, “She walks in beauty, like the
night / of cloudless climes and starry skies,” (line 2) the poet brings together
the contrasting qualities of darkness and light. The poet presents an
extended metaphor by constantly comparing the lady to the beauty of night
and day. There are many examples of assonance shown in the first few lines
such as the words like, night, climes, skies, bright, eyes, and light. The next
two lines address the lady's actual face and eyes as well as her interior
beauty which has the same qualities as the light. These descriptions enable
the readers to paint a vivid picture of this lady's beauty and her ability to make
everything bright even during the night.
The next stanza emphasizes the lady's inner and outer beauty as well
as the purity of her face. "One shade the more, one ray the less, / Had half
impair'd the nameless grace / which waves in every raven tress, / Or softly
lightens o'er her face;" (lines 7-10). The poet uses opposite words, "shade"
and "ray", as another way of relating to the ideas of dark and light. He also
employs metaphors such as "waves of raven tress" to depict her hair. This is
also an example of consonance as the consonant “v” is repeated, which
makes the poem sound smoother. With his words, the poet makes it easier
for the reader to picture what such a woman would look like, and how her
face would be as light as day while her hair is a as dark as night. The poet
also utilizes alliteration by paying more attention to her mind, and repeating
the ‘s' sound because it gives a calming effect in the way he expresses the
woman's thoughts. "Where thoughts serenely sweet express / How pure,
