George Gordon, Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty” features three sestets, each with the rime scheme, ABABAB. The theme is feminine beauty, a prototypical focus for the Romantic. Legend has it that Lord Byron met his wife’s cousin, Mrs. Robert John Wilmot, at an evening gathering and was taken with the woman’s loveliness; then, the next morning he wrote this poem about her. This poem and many other Byron poems were set to music by Isaac Nathan.
First Sestet: “She walks in beauty, like the night”
The speaker seems overcome with the beauty that he has just experienced and tries to express the nature of that beauty; it is somewhat dark, yet it is like the sky at night that has no clouds but exhibits a plethora of diamond-twinkling stars.
The subtle glow of light gives the speaker a rather inspired feeling but at the same time a feeling a bit overcome by emotion. He over-reaches to express his feelings, hoping to communicate in fresh phrasings; thus, he focuses not on how she looks but how she walks. He imagines her walking on a clear night with all the stars subtly lighting her way, playing upon her visage.
The image of the cloudless but starry sky at night sets the perfect backdrop for the portrayal of this unique beauty that has stirred his blood. It renders the beauty “mellow[ ]” in its “tender light” in a way that the light of day could never achieve. He cleverly claims that “heaven” denies the “gaudy day” such a privilege.
Second Sestet: “One shade the more, one ray the less”
The speaker claims that the balance of the lightness and darkness of this woman’s countenance is perfect; just “one shade the more, one ray the less” and the “grace” she possesses would have been off kilter. But such is not the case.
All is in harmony to produce this impossible “grace / Which waves in every raven tress.” He cannot find one single black hair out of place. And the light that plays “o’er her face” does so with precision.
He then imagines—because he has no way of knowing the mind and heart of this woman he has just met—that her thoughts are “serenely sweet” and that the brain that thinks these thoughts is “pure” and “dear.”
Third Sestet: “And on that cheek, and o’er that brow”
In the final sestet, the speaker continues to fantasize about the woman. The light and shadows play perfectly upon her “cheek, and o’er that brow / So soft, so calm, yet eloquent.” She has “smiles that win,” and “tints that glow.”
But not only is this woman physically beautiful, one upon whom the light and shadows play perfectly in balance, she is also good; he imagines that she passes her “days in goodness.” He imagines that her mind is “at peace with all below” and that she has “[a] heart whose love is innocent!”
Commentary
If the reader allows the biographical information to guide the reading, this poem loses its force. If the reader simply allows that portrayal to stand by itself, the power of its theme comes through forcefully.
The poem dramatizes a unique experience for the speaker who is simply expressing his pure feelings by placing this woman on the proverbial Romantic pedestal. Lovely thoughts have provided the canvass on which the poet has painted his feelings.
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