She Walks in Beauty, Essay Example

Introduction

“She Walks in Beauty” is a poem by Lord Byron; it is an amazing poem published in 1815. The speaker in this poem talks about the immense beauty of a lady in the night’s darkness. There are many dissimilarities in the manner and the words he uses to describe the woman’s personality and attractiveness. Contrasting terms such as bright and dark, as well as less and more, are used. We cannot honestly say that the speaker here knows the woman, but they seem familiar; the woman is described to be innocent, pure, and good.  By having the title, she walks in beauty shows the reader that perfect beauty is a combination of inner beauty as well as outward looks. The main theme of this poem is beauty and harmony of body and mind. In “She Walks in Beauty,” poet Lord Byron touches on the gorgeousness of this woman through the use of simile, metaphor, and imagery.

Poetic Devices

Similes were used to compare the beauty of this woman with different objects to prove and convince the audience regarding the lady’s beauty. In the first sentence of this poem, a simile used as the author says, “She walks in beauty, like the night.” (Lord n,p) the walk of the woman with a clear and dark night meaning that the lady walked so softly that her footsteps could not be heard. The speaker recognizes this lady’s humanistic body, and he is entranced by the woman’s natural beauty against the dark, starry sky (Razzaq et al. 441). This helps create an open image in the reader’s cognizance, assisting them get involved and absorb what is being described.

The author has also relied upon metaphor to be able to convey vivid imagery that exceeds literal meaning and create images that are simple to comprehend and respond to compared to literal language. In the eleventh and twelfth sentences, a metaphor was applied. The speaker said that “Where thoughts serenely sweet express / How pure how dear their dwelling place.” (Lord n,p). In this case, the poet is comparing the mind with dwelling place and people with thoughts. Similarly, the “raven trees” present the lady’s dark hair that adds to her gorgeousness. This metaphorical language stimulates the imagination, and thus the speaker was more able to convey impressions and emotions.

Lord Byron relied on imagery to appeal to the sense of the reader -Taste, sight, smell, touch, and sound-. To the sense of sight, the speaker used appealing images like “cloudless climes,” “night,” “cheek,” “starry sky,” and “brow.” These imageries have spoken for themselves and have allowed the readers to feel similar beauty delighting the poet. They have helped the speaker to be able to engage the readers emotionally, physically, and mentally (Razzaq et al. 450). These devices have assisted the speaker to be able to painting the faultless harmony of the inner as well as the outer attractiveness of the lady.

Conclusion

This poem explains its subject issue as being obsessed with beauty. The poem has been compiled effectively, incorporating all the necessary aspects to ensure that the reader gets the intended message. The thematic message that we can get from this poem is the goodness and the perfect beauty of an idealized lady. Lord Bryon does not attempt to give any individuality to his subject; instead, he makes the lady universal, for any man can be able to see his inamorata in the poem. By describing beauty in terms of balance and disparity between dark and light indicates that the prettiness of this leady is not unearthly but still unusual.

Works Cited

“She Walks In Beauty By Lord Byron (George Gordon) | Poetry Foundation”. Poetry Foundation, 2021, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43844/she-walks-in-beauty.

Razzaq, Abdul Razzaq Darweesh Abdul. “The Significance of Woman as an Image in Wordsworth’s” The Solitary Reaper” and Byron’s” She Walks in Beauty”.” Journal of Basra researches for Human Sciences 42.6 (2017).