She Walks in Beauty

George Gordon Byron—more commonly known as Lord Byron—is the author of “She Walks in Beauty.” It’s a lyric poem: It’s short, and it expresses the personal beliefs of the speaker about the looks of a captivating female individual. Byron published the poem in an 1815 collection called Hebrew Melodies. The poems were melodies, and a composer, Isaac Nathan, wrote music for them, as Byron sought to replicate traditional Hebrew folk songs. “She Walks in Beauty” also links to England’s Romantic movement. Byron was a central part of Romanticism, and “She Walks in Beauty” has many Romantic elements, such as favoring mystery, individuality, and nature over clearcut rationality. The poem sends the message that beauty is intangible and connects to the other wonders of the world, like stars.

Although “She Walks in Beauty” is one of Byron’s better-known lyrics, he’s probably best known for his book-length poems Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812) and Don Juan (1819). The former is about a young man discovering the world, while the latter focuses on the provocative adventures of the eponymous hero. Many of Byron’s works drew inspiration from his real life, and Byron’s life was stormy and scandalous. He was a celebrity poet in England, and his notoriety turned his name into an adjective: Byronic. In Byron’s Poetry: Authoritative Texts, Letters and Journals, Criticism, Images of Byron (W. W. Norton & Company, 1978), the Romantic scholar Frank D. McConnell defines Byronic as “the image of the artist as a mysterious, mocking, perhaps sinful, and certainly outcast figure” (xi).

Poet Biography

George Gordon Byron was born in London in January 1788. His mom, Catherine, was 22, and according to biographers, she was plain, dull, and mean. His dad, nicknamed “Mad Jack,” wasn’t around since he had racked up large debts and didn’t want to go to prison for them. Byron’s grand uncle carried the moniker “the Wicked Lord” due to his devious behavior. Once his grandfather died, Byron, whose own father had already died, inherited his grandfather’s title. In her concise biography of Byron, Byron in Love (W. W. Norton & Company, 2009), Edna O’Brien says many of Byron’s family members were “brutes, vagabonds, [and] given to episodic madness” (7).

After boarding school, Byron went to Trinity College, where he fell in love with a teen choirboy, John Edleston. Finished with Trinity, Byron traveled to Greece, Spain, and other places. Back in England, he had infamous affairs. His rocky five-month relationship with the writer Lady Caroline Lamb has become famous. Lamb famously called Byron, “Mad, bad, and dangerous to know” (quoted in Byron’s Poetry, 344). In January 1815, Byron married the serious-minded Annabella Milbanke. They had a daughter, Augusta Ada, but the marriage didn’t last. Byron physically and psychologically abused Milbanke, and he cheated on her with, among other people, his half-sister Augusta Leigh.

In 1816, Byron left England and spent time in Geneva with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife, the Gothic novelist Mary Shelley. Byron had a relationship with Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont, which produced a second daughter Allegra. By 1818, he was in Italy. He tried to lend his prestige and fame to free the country from Austrian rule. He then involved himself in Greece’s struggle for independence against Turkey. Byron died in Greece in 1824.

Throughout his dramatic life, Byron published many works. Critics scorned his first volume of poetry, Hours of Idleness (1807), but praised Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812), which took inspiration from Byron’s travels after Trinity. In 1813, he published “The Giaour,” one of his many darker poems, and in 1815, he published the lighter Hebrew Melodies, which features “She Walks in Beauty.” Byron also wrote plays like Manfred, which drew inspiration from his relationship with his half-sister. In 1819, he published the first parts of Don Juan—a work as provocative and stormy as Byron’s life.

Poem Text

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!

Lord Byron. “She Walks in Beauty.” 1815. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

As the title implies, Byron’s poem is about a striking female—perhaps a captivating woman, young woman, or girl—which is why “[s]he walks in beauty” (Line 1) and makes the speaker think of cloudless places and skies full of stars. The speaker then talks about her eyes, where the “best of dark and bright / Meet” (Lines 3-4). Her eyes have a “tender light” (Line 5) that relates to the light in heaven.

As for earthly light, “[o]ne shade the more, one ray the less” (Line 7) has only “half impaired” (Line 8) or weakened the elusive beauty of her black hair. Next, the speaker describes her face, which is as “pure” and “dear” (Line 12) as her thoughts.

Sticking with her face, the speaker zeros in on the unnamed female’s cheek and forehead, which show her “soft,” “calm,” and “eloquent” (Line 14) traits. The person has a winning smile, and she glows. In general, her looks indicate a person who does good deeds daily; she has a peaceful mind and a loving, “innocent” (Line 18) heart.