'she walks in beauty' - lord byron Flashcards
describe Lord Byron:
- ‘mad, bad, and dangerous to know’
- Romantic poet (about intense emotions, beauty nature), politician
- celebrity
- involved in a number of sex scandals, was a homosexual when it was illegal, incestuous
- very sensitive about deformed foot, may have caused his fascination with beauty
describe She Walks In Beauty:
- supposed to be inspired by a real life event, when Byron met his cousin’s strikingly beautiful wife at a party
- supposed to be accompanied with music
analyse the title, ‘She Walks In Beauty’:
the present tense verb ‘walks’ suggests that her beauty is continuous and permanent
analyse the poem’s first stanza:
imagery:
- woman compared (simile) to a perfect night: no clouds, lots of stars. the night connotations of mystery and beauty (doesn’t know her), unconventional comparison to compare her to night
language:
- ‘best of dark and bright’ suggests she’s the best of both, therefore better than both
- ‘which Heaven to gaudy day denies’. gaudy = critical, calling it too bright, tacky. challenges literature and romantic conventions of daytime being beautiful. could link to his unconventional stance on love (homosexual)
structure:
- enjambment represents breathlessness. excitement, passion, blown away by her beauty
analyse the second stanza:
imagery:
- ‘which waves in every raven tress’ present tense ‘waves’ suggests the woman’s beauty is still alive. suggests her dark hair is beautiful (ravens = black, tress = hair)
language:
- ‘nameless grace’ the adjective ‘nameless’ suggests that the woman’s beauty is beyond words. remarkable, Lord Byron is a poet
structure:
- ‘one shade the more, one ray the less’ use of antithesis (opposites presented in a repeated structure) highlights how delicately balanced the woman’s beauty is
describe the quote:
‘where thoughts serenely sweet express, how pure, how dear, their dwelling-place’
her outward beauty (the dwelling place) is expressing her inner beauty (she’s showing beautiful emotions on her beautiful face). she’s a good person
analyse the third stanza:
structure:
- sibilance creates calm, soothing mood, like the woman’s thoughts ‘so soft’, ‘smiles’
language:
- Byron celebrates the woman’s purity and goodness: ‘goodness’, ‘peace’, ‘heart’, ‘love’, ‘innocence’ (positive semantic field)
> womaniser: attracted to purity to corrupt it? or is it just the Romantic poet in him?
describe the structure at the end of the poem:
‘A mind at peace with all below/A heart whose love is innocent!’
the poem’s topic has shifted significantly. the poem ends with a celebration of not only the woman’s appearance, but also her personality, virtues, morals
- he may be dismissing vanity and physical beauty, preferring internal beauty
describe the the entire poem:
imagery:
- traditional images of light represent beauty, ‘starry skies’, ‘bright’, ‘tender light’, ‘Heaven’, ‘ray’
- darkness shows a rejection of traditional/literary ideals of beauty: ‘night’, ‘dark’, ‘raven tress’. could reflect his own subverted sexual preferences
structure:
- consistent stanzas, 6 lines each
- regular, strong rhyme scheme ABAB
- generally strong, consistent rhythm
- strong, unwavering structure, like the woman’s beauty
describe the mood of the poem:
celebratory, celebrating external and internal beauty
what is the motivation for this poem?
Byron celebrates a woman, initially for her external beauty, perhaps reflecting his notoriety he had for his involvement in many sexual scandals. as the poem progresses, it glorifies the woman’s internal beauty, evoking Byron’s status as a Romantic poet, as it suggests he’s in awe (intense feeling) of her, rather than just lusting after her
what are the themes in the poem?
- power (of beauty, of emotions, powerful emotions)
- love (emotional love or just lust, however?)
- man (a nameless woman, a man’s feeling about the woman)
