She walks in Beauty - Quotes, Context and Form & Structure

?
  • Created by: Noah_S
  • Created on: 28-03-19 17:56
View mindmap
  • She Walks in Beauty
    • Lord Byron
      • 1813
    • Middle
      • "nameless grace"
        • The poet literally cannot put into words how beautiful she is in mind and spirit. No words can fully explain her beauty.
      • "Which waves in every raven tress"
        • The adjective ‘raven’ perhaps gives her a darker aspect as it is traditionally associated with a bird of bad omen.
        • This perhaps represents the two sides of her characters.
    • Contexts
      • Lord Byron
        • One of the leading Romantic Poets.
        • Inspired to write the poem after seeing a woman with very good looks at a London party.
        • The poem is a personal one to Byron which responded to a personal situation.
        • Lord Byron was a 'loveable rogue'
      • It has been claimed that the lady in question was in mourning and dressed in a black spangled gown.
        • The first two lines mirrors this interpretation to the image that Byron creates.
    • Form and Structure
      • 18 Line Lyric poem
        • Written to be spoken or sung to music (possibly to woo the lady as a traditional romantic gesture).
      • Three stanzas
        • Consists of six lines.
      • The rhyme scheme is regular and follows the pattern ababab.
      • The rhythm of the poem is highly regular.
        • This consistent rhythm emphasises the regularity of the subject's walk but also her faultless perfection.
      • Byron makes much use of enjambment
        • It is almost as if the speaker cannot pause for breath while telling the reader how beautiful this woman is.
    • End
      • "And on that cheek, and o’er that brow/so soft, so calm, yet eloquent"
        • The repetition of the connective ‘and’ suggests a continuation or a syndetic list. 
          • This emphasises how when the poet looks at the woman, more and more beautiful things about her stand out to him.
        • The sibilance of ‘so soft’ creates a tenderness in the poet’s voice and the punctuation slows the rhythm of the tone.
      • "the smiles that win, the tints that glow/but tell of days in goodness spent"
        • The metaphor suggests that her smile could win any man over, her smile lights up her face and brings a smile to everyone who sees her
        • More importantly the conjunction ‘but’ show that her glow is from the inside and is a reflection of what a nice-natured woman she is.
    • Beginning
      • "Thus mellowed to that tender light/which heaven to gaudy day denies"
        • The use of the verb ‘mellowed’ creates an image of haziness, dreaminess and romance.
        • There is use of personification in the word light, to reflect poet’s emotions.
        • He compares the view of the woman with heaven, emphasising his emotions and how everything looks so dreamy when he looks at her.
      • "She walks in beauty"
        • Repetition of the title to emphasise the poet’s amazement at the woman’s beauty.
        • Also a metaphor to create a dreamy sense of how the world seems when this beautiful woman walks.
        • This ‘beauty’ is not a place, but a state of being.

Comments

JudithVanmeter

Report

She walks in Beauty, but also she has a lot of flaws. She has sensitive skin, which makes her break out sometimes. If you are looking for a perfume that can be worn by both men and women, then you should explore perfumes for women for buying a unisex fragrance. Her hair is really frizzy and difficult to manage. She has a hard time getting rid of those zits. She walks in Beauty, but also she has a lot of flaws. 

Similar English Literature resources:

See all English Literature resources »See all AQA Anthology resources »