She Walks in Beauty Analysis (task 1) PDF

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Work: She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron Period: Romantic 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. 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. 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! Initial Reactions to the Work What initially drew me into the poem, was the way Lord Byron talked about this woman. Byron’s main focus was the external features of the woman, but the last two lines of the poem were about her internal features such as her “mind” and “heart”. Byron has a beautiful way of describing this woman. He seems very in love with the way she looks and seems like he has spent time studying the way shade and light “softly lightens o’er her face”. Byron speaks with so much passion and shows his affection toward this woman using such beautiful ways to describe her. His language and word choice draws me in and makes me want to figure out a deeper meaning to the poem. Byron using the contrast of “dark and bright” to explain her eyes give the clue that maybe her eyes or a darker color. I love how Byron went from

explaining her external beauty such as her eyes and how her face catches the light to explaining how beautiful her mind and heart were. His switch from describing her external beauty to her internal beauty put focus on the idea of appreciating a person as a whole.

Historical Context The Romantic Era housed many major historical events such as the Industrial Revolution, The American Revolution, and The French Revolution. The Industrial Revolution, The American Revolution, and the French Revolution all had a lasting effect on politics. The Industrial Revolution was a switch from agricultural based labor and living to mechanical labor and urban living. So much was changing during the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, people began to grab on to what they knew best; themselves.. People now embraced their emotions and created art that reflected how they felt and who they were. The Romantic Era took place directly after the Neoclassical/ Enlightenment period. The Romantic Era was a new era that was unlike any other era that had come before it. Romantics tried to break away from classicism and develop new ways to express themselves. Instead of looking to religion and myths for inspirations, romantics began expressing themselves more, using personal experiences and emotions as subjects. The Romantic Era had a couple major themes that were often expressed in poetry; passion, individualism, and heroism. Because individualism became such a huge concept, writers began writing to express emotion and embraced who they were and how they felt. Writers often wrote with such passion about their emotions.

Biographical Context

From the biography about Lord Byron, it sounds as if Lord Byron had multiple affairs and women he was interested in. He had “lustful ways” that inspired his poems and made him the writer that he was (Biography.com Editors, 2016). I am a little bit surprised Byron was interested in so many women considering his poem seems so meaningful and sounds as if he's describing someone he's deeply in love with. Lord Byron’s multiple love affairs and love interests could have led to the way he talked about woman he found interest in. His experience with so many women could have taught him how to write about women in a pleasing way just like how he talks about the woman in She Walks in Beauty.

Exploration of themes or stylistic characteristics Lord Byron, like most other romantic artists, “stressed passion, emotion, and exotic settings” (MindEdge, Inc., 2014). Lord Byron uses nature in his poem paired with such passion to describe a woman. Many romantic writers felt inspired by nature. Passion and individualism were huge theme during the Romantic era. Artists during this time period really valued the individual and described individuals with such passion. Lord Byron uses similes and metaphors throughout his poem. Byron starts out with a simile in the first line of the poem when he compares the woman’s beauty to“the night”. Byron then uses a metaphor to compare the woman’s mind to a “dwelling place” where her thoughts are serenely expressed. Lord Byron uses alliteration throughout the first stanza with the repetition of the ‘cl’ when he says “cloudless climes” and the repetition of ‘s’ when he says “starry skies”. His alliteration gives the poem a more lyrical feel, and emphasizes the theme of passion with his careful and thoughtful word choice.

Arguably the biggest stylistic choice in the poem, is how often Lord Byron uses personification. He personifies heaven, the woman’s thoughts, her cheeks, and her smile. Lord Byron personifies heaven by giving it the ability to deny, the woman’s thought the ability to express, her cheeks the ability to be eloquent, and her smile the ability to tell.

Current relevance The current relevance of this poem lies in the themes. Ever since the romantic era, people have continued to express themselves and create art (in all forms of disciplines) using personal experiences, personal feelings, and a lot of passion. This poem is a love poem. In today's society, the fairytale love story ending is sought after and everyone just wants to be loved.

Changing perspective After analyzing She Walks in Beauty, I have a better understanding on how the romantic period relates to current society and how similar works of art are now to how they were 200-300 years ago. Lord Byron wrote about a woman he may or may not have loved, but the way the poem was constructed its like you could feel the love bleeding off the page. This is not very different from how modern romantic writers make you feel when you read something they have wrote. I really enjoyed getting to dive deeper into the poem and learn how much the romantic era has affected our current society.

References MindEdge, Inc. (2014). Introduction to the humanities. Waltham, MA: MindEdge, Inc. Biography.com Editors (2016). Lord Byron Biography.com. https://www.biography.com/people/lord-byron-21124525...