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Lord Byron · 1815
She Walks in Beauty
The full text of Lord Byron’s poem, what it means in plain words, and its best lines as pictures you can download and share.
- Poet
- Lord Byron
- Published
- 1815
- First line
- She walks in beauty, like the night
She Walks in Beauty
Lord Byron
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 that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray 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.
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!
Best lines
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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
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
Meaning and summary
The poet compares a woman’s beauty not to the bright day but to a clear, starry night: in her, the best of dark and light meet in perfect balance. One shade more or one ray less would spoil the “nameless grace” of her dark hair and her face.
In the last stanza the beauty turns inward. Her calm face and gentle smile show a life spent in goodness, a mind at peace and an innocent heart. Outer beauty, the poem says, is a sign of inner goodness.
Form
Three six-line stanzas in iambic tetrameter, rhyming ABABAB.
About the poet
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788–1824), was one of the great English Romantic poets. He is said to have written it after seeing his cousin by marriage in a black mourning dress set with spangles; it was published in Hebrew Melodies (1815).
Poems
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Questions
About the poem
What is She Walks in Beauty about?
A woman whose outer beauty, balanced like a starry night, reflects her inner goodness.
Why does Byron compare her to the night?
Because her dark hair and bright face join dark and light in harmony, like stars in a clear night sky.
When was it published?
In 1815, in Hebrew Melodies.