"She walks in beauty" by Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet, and politician. He was born on 22nd January 1788 and died on 19th April 1824. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular.

In first stanza poet is comparing the beauty of lady with the night. The night which has starry sky and cloudless atmosphere. There is a mixture of dark and light. The night is dark and the stars has light. This best combination of dark and light both mixes in her skin and her eyes. We can say she might has got dark eyes and light skin tone. This mixture of dark and light is like a soft and pleasing light. It is not like the light of bright sunny day.

In second stanza poet says that the nameless lady has perfect balance of dark and light. If anyone tries to give one more shade of dark or if anyone takes out one ray of light, the whole beauty will be shattered. This shows that lady has perfect graceful beauty. When her lock of black hair waves over her face, it all lighten ups. Her face is expressing every thought very calmly and sweetly. Because of that calmness over her face poet says that the place from where those thoughts has come, or in short her mind should be very pure and precious. Because it expresses every thought very gracefully. So in this stanza with the outer beauty poet also praises the inner beauty of the lady.

In third stanza poet talks about the cheek and forehead of lady. The look of lady’s face is so calm and soft but then even it is eloquent. The lady has the smile which can win everyone’s heart. The skin tone of lady is glowing. These all beauty of lady tells about the good days which she has spent. Above all these things the lady has peace of mind. Her love is also innocent. It does not have any cunningness. So in this poem, poet starts with the appreciation of outer beauty, but at the end it says that the outer beauty is the result of the inner beauty.

The poem is divided in 3 stanzas 6 lines each. It has ABABAB rhyme scheme. It is written in iambic tetrameter.

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