George Gordon, Lord Byron

Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty” is a poem that at first seemed very simple and straightforward, but after I had looked over it a few times, I realized that it was a bit more complex than I had originally thought. I found this poem very beautiful and romantic, a lovely description of an attractive woman.

What I find interesting about this poem is its unification of opposites. In life, we encounter various opposing ideas and ideas. Man and woman. Yes and no. Pro-choice and Pro-life. Opposites also play a huge part in literature. Characters are used in juxtaposition to others, their bad traits illuminating the good traits in the others. The classic plot is the fight between good and evil, a fight between to opposing forces, the good guys versus the bad guys, a fight of opposites. However, in Lord Byron’s poem, the opposites of light and dark are unified in this one woman of magnificent beauty.

“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.” (358)

At first it appears that he simply likens her to the night, a dark beauty, perhaps exotic in nature. But when you continue on, you realize that isn’t his intention. He compares her to a cloudless night sky, clear and dark, but illuminated by starlight. And the best of these two worlds, light and dark, come together in her face and eyes. Like a star-filled night sky, her beauty is a “tender light”, a mellow moderation, not falling to any extreme. In the final line, he writes that heaven denies this tender light to the daytime. In his opinion, daytime, or complete light, is gaudy, it is over the top. This is interesting because in so many instances, darkness is associated with evil, or at least a bad side. Black magic is seen as evil. In movies, the bad guy often wears black or other dark colors. But here in Byron’s poem, it is specifically the darkness that mellows the light and thus makes her beautiful. If she were entirely light, if she were, in essence, the daytime, her beauty would not be as magnificent.

“One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.” (358)

The first lines here can be interpreted differently. One could say that that if her look was modified “one shade the more, one ray the less”, her beauty would only be impaired slightly. Or one could interpret it as if even the slightest change was made, her beauty would not be nearly what it is. She is, ultimately, perfect. He describes her physical features here in terms of light and dark, referring to her dark, “raven” hair, and the lightness of her face. Her face is sweet and pure and serene in expression.

“And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!” (358)

In the final stanza, he continues describing aspects of her face. Her cheek and brow have soft qualities, peaceful and serene, and yet they are “eloquent”, they are expressive and say a great deal about, perhaps, her thoughts and her life. The colors and shades of her face and hair illuminate her beauty. This half of a line is interesting because a tint is simply a darker shade of a color. This implies some sort of darkness, or at least a lessening of lightness and this is interesting because in his line, these tints “glow” or illuminate her beauty. Yet, even though her smile may alter her peaceful countenance, and her dark hair may appear exotic and intense, he is sure that she is good and innocent. Her calm expression and her beautiful physical appearance, for Byron, reflect a beautiful soul and innocent moral character.

As I said before, at first glance I thought this poem was simpler than it really is. It still is a sort of love poem, but made a bit more complex as Byron goes on to describe a rare, more complex beauty. His use of light and dark is interesting because here they come together to make a woman more beautiful, instead of working against each other.