She Walks In Beauty edexcel 4-The-Poetry-Anthology

She Walks in Beauty

Each GCSE poetry anthology contains 15 poems, and in your exam question you will be given one poem – printed in full – and asked to compare this printed poem to another. The exam is closed-book, which means you will not have access to the second poem. This does not mean you need to remember every line from memory, but you do need to understand and remember aspects of the poem. Understanding four things will enable you to produce a top-grade response:

• The meaning of the poem

• The ideas and messages of the poet 

• How the poet conveys these ideas through their methods

• How these ideas compare and contrast with the ideas of other poets in the anthology

Below is a guide to Lord Byron’s poem ‘She Walks in Beauty’, from the Relationships anthology. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations

• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods

• Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes

• What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam

Overview

In order to answer an essay question on any poem it is vital that you understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell

• A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section

• A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Lord Byron’s intention and message

‘She Walks in Beauty’ in a nutshell

‘She Walks in Beauty’, written by the poet George Gordon Byron, can be considered a tribute to a woman’s beauty. The poem is a third-person idealised description of the woman’s inner and outer beauty. 

‘She Walks in Beauty’ breakdown

Lines 1–2

“She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;”

Translation

• A woman, unidentified, is described as “walking” in beauty, suggesting she is graceful and very beautiful 

• She is compared to a clear night sky 

Byron’s intention

• The poem immediately begins describing a beautiful woman

• Byron uses natural imagery related to night to allude to the woman’s mysterious nature 

Lines 3–4

“And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;”

Translation

• The woman is described as possessing the best features of “dark” and “bright” 

• This can be seen in her attitude and her eyes

Byron’s intention

• Byron describes a female who is mysterious but also radiant

• He implies the woman possesses alluring qualities that capture the dark and the light 

Lines 5–6

“Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.”

Translation

• The woman appears to calm the brightness of the “gaudy” or glaring day

• She is related to gentle light and heaven

Byron’s intention

• Celestial imagery and hyperbolic praise elevates the woman’s status:

  • She makes the bright sun of the daytime appear lurid and loud

• This connects the woman closely, as suggested in the first line, to the night and more “tender” light

Lines 7–10

“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;” 

Translation

• The woman is described in terms of light and dark again, referring to the perfect “shade” or “ray” of light that falls on her hair (“tress”)

• The woman’s black (“raven”) hair catches the light or it lights up her face “softly”

Byron’s intention 

• Byron uses contrasting imagery related to dark and light, night and day, to show, perhaps, the harmonious nature of the woman

• This could, however, also imply she has a complex nature, hiding aspects of herself while presenting as “bright” and “soft”

Lines 11–12

“Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.”

Translation

• The woman is described as not only beautiful in appearance but also in thought

• Her thoughts are expressed quietly and calmly (“serenely sweet”)

• The speaker describes her mind as a “dear” and “pure” place 

Byron’s intention

• Here, the woman is presented as a sweet and calm female

• This description conforms to the female characterisations and idealised romances found in literature describing courtly love 

• This suggests the poem pays tribute to romanticised love

Lines 13–16

“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,” 

Translation

• The woman’s face (her “cheek” and “brow”) is “calm” and “soft”:

  • The speaker adds that she communicates very well (perhaps with her smiles)

  • The woman’s smiles are persuasive, they “win” people over with their “glow”

  • Yet she is good and spends her time being kind and virtuous

Byron’s intention

• Byron’s description of the woman emphasises her calm tenderness

• The woman’s virtuous nature is seen in her smiles (perhaps Byron wants to stress she is not seductive purposefully)

Lines 17–18

“A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!”

Translation

• The poem ends praising the woman’s peaceful mind and her innocence

• The last line exclaims how pure her love is

Byron’s intention

• Byron’s poem ends with a dramatic expression of admiration for the woman’s innocence

• In this way, the poem may present a woman who is not in a relationship and out of reach as such, or it may imply the woman’s love is pure and genuine

Writer’s methods

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is always best to move from what the poet is presenting (the techniques they use; the overall form of the poem; what comes at the beginning, middle and end of a poem) to how and why they have made the choices they have. 

Focusing on the poet’s overarching ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks. Crucially, in the below sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, and includes Lord Byron’s intentions behind his choices in terms of:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

Lord Byron’s poem ‘She Walks in Beauty’ is a romantic tribute to an unnamed woman. An unidentified speaker describes her purity, her allure and her tenderness in romantic imagery related to nature. 

Structure

The poem’s regular and sophisticated structure makes the poem an example of traditional romantic poetry. It also contributes to the idea of harmony. 

 Language

The poem uses contrasting imagery to highlight aspects of the woman’s appearance and character. Her purity is conveyed by relating her to nature and the universe. 

Context

Examiners repeatedly state that context should not be considered as additional factual information: in this case, it is not random biographical information about George Gordon Byron or facts unrelated to the ideas in ‘She Walks in Beauty’. The best way to understand context is as the ideas and perspectives explored by Byron that relate to romantic love and themes of desire. 

This section has therefore been divided into two relevant themes that Byron explores:

• Romantic love

• Idealised love and desire

Romantic love 

• Byron is considered a Romantic poet:

  • The poem ‘She Walks in Beauty’ was written in 1815 at the height of this movement

  • It focuses, typically, on the senses and personal emotion:

    • The poem ends with an exclamation of admiration

    • The woman is described with “A mind at peace with all below”

• Romantic poetry emphasises the power of the natural world:

  • In this poem, the woman’s beauty in particular is compared with the night, “starry skies” and “heaven”

Idealised love and desire

• The inspiration for Byron’s poem is said to be a beautiful woman at a fashionable London party

• That the lady was in mourning, dressed in sparkled black, perhaps indicates why she is “like the night” and seems mysterious and serene

• This also signifies a love that is unrequited:

  • The distanced third-person “she” contributes to the idea of unresolved love

• The poem was part of a collection called Hebrew Melodies that was to be set to sombre religious music:

  • This can be seen in the regular rhyme and reverent nature of the poem

What to compare it to

The essay you are required to write in your exam is a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. It is therefore essential that you revise the poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about love or relationships, in comparison to other poets in the anthology. Given that ‘She Walks in Beauty’ explores the ideas of romantic desire and idealised love, the following comparisons are the most appropriate:

• ‘She Walks in Beauty’ and ‘How do I love thee? (Sonnet 43)’

• ‘She Walks in Beauty’ and ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’

• ‘She Walks in Beauty’ and ‘Valentine’

For each pair of poems, you will find:

• The comparison in a nutshell

• Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem

• Differences between the ideas presented in each poem

• Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

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