Analysis of She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron In Lord Byrons poem, She Walks in Beauty, the poet praises

a womans beauty. Yet, the poet not only focuses on the external appearance of the woman but extends his glorification onto the internal aspect of her, making the woman more divine and praiseworthy. The first stanza of the poem describes the physical appearance of the woman. Byron starts the poem with the phrase She walks in beauty, like the night/ Of cloudless climes and starry skies;.(1-2) Here, the poet creates an image of a dark, clear sky with twinkling stars, and make a contrast between brightness and darkness. The second stanza of She Walks in Beauty continues to praise the womans appearance, but starting from line 11, the poet extends this external beauty onto the womans personality. In the phrase Had half impaired the nameless grace,(8) the poet tells us that the womans face is in such a perfect portion that just a slight change would damage it. By adding the word nameless in front of the word grace, the poet enlarged the womans beauty and greatness, thereby suggesting it as something so priceless that cant be defined nor expressed as a name. The last stanza also talks both about the womans inner and outer characteristics. Her cheek and her smiles are beautiful. In the phrases days in goodness spent,(16) mind at peace,(17) and heat whose love is innocent,(18) we understand that the womans inner thoughts are also as pure and graceful just as her appearance. As in previous stanzas, he once again shows the theme of this poem, which is the womans physical beauty along with her internal beauty. Now, lets go on to analyzing the form of She Walks in Beauty. each line composed of an iambic tetrameter. the great use of simple rhymes creates a soft atmosphere, seemingly portraying the nature of the woman. Also, the repetition of the unstressed-stressed words gives us a soft, stepping rhythm. Major poetic mechanisms Byron used in this poem. First, the poet uses personification such as smiles that win(15) and heart whose love is innocent,(18) to vividly describe the womans soft smiles and pure heart. use of similes and metaphors in parts like the night,(1) nameless grace / which waves in every raven trees,(8-9) the poet compares grace(8), the quality of the woman, to an observable phenomenon raven trees(9) and makes the portray more clear. Lastly, to give the poem a smooth flow, the poet uses alliteration in parts such as cloudless climes,(2) starry skies,(2) day denies,(6) and serenely sweet.(11) These intended usages of words contribute also in deepening the meaning of the words. To summarize, the overall tone of She Walks in Beauty is soft and calm, quite different with the image we have about poet, Lord Byron. Perhaps this extreme contrast between the lovely poem and the author who have lived a dissipated lifestyle makes the poem touches us stronger. We could vividly feel how strong Byrons admiration of the woman was. Use of soft and simple languages rather than heavy, intellectual words is also significant, as it demonstrates the pure, easily noticeable beauty of the woman. The woman portrayed in this poem must have been truly beautiful to catch Byrons attention at once, and make him write such a vivid poem.