She Walks in Beauty Flashcards
introduction
- the poem is a lyrical celebration of a woman’s physical and spiritual beauty.
- the poem explores the idea that true beauty comes from an inner radiance and goodness that manifests outwardly.
- unlike some of Byron’s other works, the poem presents a more restrained and reverential admiration of female beauty.
- the poem’s structure reinforces its theme of perfect harmony and grace.
form
- lyric poem
- iambic tetrameter - mimics her walking - ‘dee dum’
- blazon
structure
- 3 sestets
- enjambment - breathlessness - excitement and passion and being overwhelmed by the beauty
rhythm and rhyme
- regular rhyme scheme - ABABAB
finish the quote: ‘one shade..
…the more, one ray the less’
‘one shade the more, one ray the less’
- use of antithesis
- opposite/contrasting ideas presented alongside each other by using the same grammatical structure
- highlights the woman’s beauty is delicately poised between light and dark
- beauty and perfection lie in this precariousness
finish the quote: ‘so soft..
…so calm’
‘so soft, so calm’
‘smiles’
‘tints’
‘spent’
- sibilance
- creates a calm, soothing mood just like the woman’s thought
what does the poem end with?
- byron celebrating the woman’s character rather than appearance
- ‘goodness’, ‘peace’, ‘heart’, ‘innocent’, ‘love’
- suggesting that appearance is very easy to assess but it takes much longer to find out how they truly are
- byron dismissing vanity and physical beauty
- preferring internal beauty
finish the quote: ‘like..
..the night’
finish the quote: ‘of cloudless…
…climes and starry skies’
‘like the night’
- woman has been compared to a perfect night - not a cloud in the sky and plenty of stars
- connotations of mystery and beauty
- unconventional comparison
finish the quote: ‘that…
…tender night’
‘that tender night’
- a soft and beautiful light resides in her face and eyes
- beauty
finish the quote: ‘which waves..
..in every raven tress’
‘which waves in every raven tress’
- omen of death = a funeral
- the energy of her beauty can be seen in her hair
- woman’s beauty is alive
- ‘waves’ - present tense - giving her beauty energy
finish the quote ‘dark and…
..bright’
finish the quote: ‘tender..
…light’
‘dark and bright’
‘tender light’
- light has been used to represent beauty
- very traditional and literary ideals of beauty
- byron rejects this - DARKNESS IS BEAUTY
- subversion could reflect his own for the time subversive sexual preferences
finish the quote: ‘her…
…face’
finish the quote: ‘meet in her aspect..
..and her eyes’
‘face’
‘eyes’
- corporeal imagery
- seen in a superficial way
finish the quote: ‘heaven to..
…gaudy day denies’
‘gaudy’
- byron criticises the daytime for being too bright - tasteless and tacky
- challenging conventions of love and literature
- at the time, his sexuality and attitudes towards love were unconventional
title
- ‘she walks in beauty’
- ‘walks’ - present tense - beauty is continuous and permanent and eternal
finish the quote: ‘best..
..of dark and bright’
‘best of dark and bright’
- juxtaposition - contains aspects of both night and day
- best of both worlds
- superior than night and day = balance = extraordinary beauty
finish the quote: ‘nameless..
..grace’
‘nameless grace’
- woman’s beauty is beyond words
finish the quote: ‘where thoughts…
….serenely sweet express’
finish the quote: ‘how pure..
..how dear their dwelling place’
‘where thoughts serenely sweet express’
‘how pure, how dear their dwelling place’
- outward beauty reflects her inner beauty, therefore she is a good person
- her face is the place where her thoughts are visible
- pure and dear thoughts
‘tender’
gentle
‘goodness’
‘peace’
‘heart’
‘innocent’
‘love’
- positive semantic field
- byron’s celebration of the woman’s purity and goodness
finish the quote: ‘days..
…in goodness spent’
‘days in goodness spent’
- ironic - he was a scandalous figure
- woman has lived a moral life
finish the quote: ‘A heart whose love…
…is innocent!’
‘A heart whose love is innocent!’
- the poem ends with an exclamation mark to convey the speaker’s fervent expression of admiration
hyperbolic language
- byron elevates the idea of romance and the woman is described with hyperbolic language: “So soft, so calm” and “How pure, how dear”
mood and tone
- celebratory - poem ends with byron celebrating the woman’s character rather than her appearance
- one’s appearance is v easy to assess but it takes much longer to find out who they really are
- celebrating internal and external beauty
- tone of admiration
key quotations for love
“She walks in beauty, like the night/Of cloudless chimes and starry skies;”
“A mind at peace with all below,/A heart whose love is innocent!”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR LOVE
“She walks in beauty, like the night/Of cloudless chimes and starry skies;”
“A mind at peace with all below,/A heart whose love is innocent!”
The simile suggests a serene and perfect beauty. The imagery of a clear night evokes a feeling of tranquillity which enhances the romantic and idealised portrayal of the woman. The juxtaposition of “night” and “starry skies” combines darkness and light, symbolising a harmonious beauty. The enjambment further echoes the grace of the woman’s movement
The end-stopped line suggests a finality and completeness. The final line shifts the focus from physical beauty to inner beauty
key quotations for idealised beauty
“One shade the more, one ray the less,/Had half impaired the nameless grace”
“The smiles that win, the tints that glow,”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR IDEALISED BEAUTY
“One shade the more, one ray the less,/Had half impaired the nameless grace”
“The smiles that win, the tints that glow,”
The contrast between “shade” and “ray” alludes to the perfection of the woman’s beauty. The use of hyperbole, “one shade the more, one ray the less”, also suggests that the woman’s appearance is so perfect that even the slightest alteration might diminish it
Vivid imagery conveys the woman’s radiant beauty through “smiles” and “tints that glow” suggesting her beauty is a reflection of her virtuous life, with the word “glow” alluding to her radiance
key quotations for admiration and awe
“Where thoughts serenely sweet express,/How pure,”
“She walks in beauty”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR ADMIRATION AND AWE
“Where thoughts serenely sweet express,/How pure,”
“She walks in beauty”
The sibilance created through the words “serenely sweet” creates a soothing and gentle effect and alludes to the purity and serenity of the woman’s thoughts. The use of alliteration demonstrates the speaker’s reverence and deep sense of awe for her inner beauty
Byron uses an admiring tone and elevated language to convey the speaker’s adoration. The poem is written in the third person, “she”, and creates a distance between the speaker and the woman. While this perspective enables the speaker to depict a seemingly objective image of her beauty, the speaker’s idealisation of her beauty could also be interpreted as unrealistic
