Byron's "She Walks in Beauty"

George Gordon, Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty” was a very beautiful poem, expressing the speaker’s admiration of a specific woman’s beauty. Even though the poem does not specify, the speaker is probably a male at a mature age. It seems like the speaker is at a distance looking at the lady. He is in love with the woman in the poem, or at least infatuated with her beauty. While describing the beauty of the lady, the speaker keeps a very respectful tone, making sure not to go over board with his words. I believe the speaker is Byron himself, and the woman is someone he met but not close to.

I was not sure what reliable/unreliable meant for this poem, but I believe the speaker was reliable, because those were his own thoughts. Also, that question led me to think about the possibility of the woman being imaginary, either in his dream or his ideal lover.

This poem’s intended audience is just anybody, very general. The speaker does not seem like he is talking to the woman specifically or to someone else. He is just expressing his feelings in this piece.

“She Walks in Beauty” was a very straightforward, simple poem; therefore, it was difficult to find a proper theme. The theme could be a man admiring the beauty of a woman, or that everyone has an ideal image of his or her lover.

The language of this poem is fairly casual, since it is the thoughts of a man. The author uses a lot of imagery and similes/metaphors of nature to compare to the beauty of the woman. He compares the lady to the calm night. Also, by using the comparison to the night, Lord Byron makes the poem flow even more. In addition, the poet is writing in the midst of emotion. He was writing the poem at the time when he was in love with the lady’s beauty. Byron expressed a great deal of emotion in this piece.

I really enjoyed this poem by Lord Byron. I found it very beautiful and elegant. I especially liked the fitting use of comparisons, imagery, similes and metaphors in “She Walks in Beauty.” Even though others might have a slight different interpretation of this poem than me, this poem was very straightforward in its meaning and content. Unlike many other poems I read earlier, this piece does not have an infinite number of interpretations.