Darkeness and Light in Byron's "She Walks in Beauty"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes Lord Byron's poem "She Walk's in Beauty", which combines images of darkness and light to create a unique internal and external aura. The paper maintains that this aura surrounds the beautiful woman who he describes in his poem. Each one of Byron's three stanzas describes a natural, a physical and a spiritual aura which surround the woman. Byron uses images from the natural, physical and spiritual world to describe the emotions he has towards this particular woman, represented in images of both light and darkness. The paper concludes that, through his poem, Byron has combined the beauty of the natural world, the physical body and the spiritual being to create a timeless expression of love and admiration.

From the Paper:

"Byron's first stanza concentrates on the natural beauty of the woman who he encounters. "She walks in beauty, like the night/ Of cloudless climes and starry skies" (Ln.1-2) .Byron has immediately introduced us to a woman whose beauty is that equal to the beauty of nature. Her beauty is represented by the darkness of night. The image of night creates an aura that surrounds her. Byron is describing how beautiful he feels the night is and that this woman represents that beauty of night within her own aura. Nature is both day and night, both dark and light. In the first stanza the images of day light and dark night both represent the woman. The lines "All that's best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes," (Ln. 3-4) represent the combination of day and night within the woman. She is a combination of the best of the day and the best of the night. Her combination of dark and bright creates, "that tender night Which heaven to gaudy day denies" (Ln.5-6). She is not the overpowering "gaudy," brightness of day. She's the perfect combination of light and dark. Not even heaven bestows this beautiful light on the day. She is a pure, natural and heavenly creature on earth."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Damrosch, David, ed. The Longman Anthology British Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. B. New York: Pearson Education Inc., 2004.

More papers on Darkeness and Light in Byron's "She Walks in Beauty":

• Book Review # 148449 : "The notions of life and death in Ben Okri's "In Arcadia"
• Poem Review # 148071 : "Grief, Reflection and Doubt in Alfred Tennyson's In Memoriam"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: