She walks in Beauty


I.

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 the tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
She walks in beauty--like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,

II.

One ray the more, one shade 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.
She walks in beauty--like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,

III.

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.
She walks in beauty--like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,


“She walks in Beauty” is a poem by George Gordon, Lord Byron, written in 1814 and published in 1815 in “Hebrew Melodies”. It is said that the poem was written upon Mrs. Wilmot, Byron’s cousin. Several months before the author met and married his first wife, Anna Milbanke, Lord Byron attended a party at Lady Sitwell’s, and Byron met his cousin, the beautiful Mrs. Wilmot, and her beauty inspired the author. The author was inspired by the sight of his cousin and she became the essence of his poem about her. In that sense, the topic of the poem is beauty. It is a simple, yet powerful poem that thematically links the idea of dark and light with that of beauty. We see this, for example in the line "all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes;". The beauty is also linked to nature and the supernatural. The presence of beauty in "goodness" and "innocence" suggests a paradisaical nature and can be seen as central to the overall vision of Romanticism.


The Essential Byron selected by Paul Muldoon. The Ecco Press. 1989.