The poem
Lord Byron (1788–1824)
Written in 1814; published in Hebrew Melodies (1815).
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!
About the author
Lord Byron (1788–1824), born George Gordon Byron, was an English poet whose fame, scandal and early death made him the very image of the Romantic hero. 'She Walks in Beauty' was written in 1814 after he saw his cousin by marriage, Anne Wilmot, at a party, wearing mourning black set with spangles. In 1824 he died of fever at Missolonghi while supporting Greek independence, aged thirty-six.
Themes
Outward beauty as the sign of inward goodness. The poem balances opposites, dark and bright, shade and ray, and finds perfection in their exact meeting point. The final stanza makes the bolder claim: her beauty proves her virtue, 'a mind at peace with all below, a heart whose love is innocent'.
Reading note
The poem is built on balance: every line weighs dark against light. Read the second stanza as a jeweler's work, adjusting 'one shade the more, one ray the less' until the grace is exactly right. Byron, famous for turbulence, here writes one of the calmest poems in English.