She Walks in Beauty
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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
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd 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![1]
"She Walks in Beauty" is a short lyrical poem in iambic tetrameter written in 1814 by Lord Byron. It is one of Byron's most famous and popular works.[2] The poem appeared in Hebrew Melodies, published by John Murray in London in 1815.
Background
It is believed to have been inspired by an event in Byron's life. On 11 June 1814, Byron attended a party in London. Among the guests was Mrs. Anne Beatrix Wilmot, wife of Byron's first cousin, Sir Robert Wilmot. He was struck by her unusual beauty, and the next morning the poem was written.[3]
It is thought that she was the first inspiration for his unfinished epic poem about Goethe, a personal hero of his. In this unpublished work, which Byron referred to in his letters as his magnum opus, he switches the gender of Goethe and gives him the same description of his cousin.
Musical settings
The poem has inspired various composers over time, including Roger Quilter, Gerald Finzi, Toby Hession, Ivy Frances Klein, Jean Coulthard, Isaac Nathan, Nicolas Flagello, Mychael Danna, and Sally Whitwell. The British musical ensemble Mediaeval Baebes sing the complete poem on their 2015 album The Huntress.
Legacy
UK Mail released a commemorative stamp in 2020 featuring the opening lines of the poem.
Marianne Faithfull and Warren Ellis released an eponymous album in 2021 that featured a reading of the poem accompanied by music.
Caroline Kennedy released an anthology of poetry in 2011, She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey Through Poems, that featured the poem and used the title of the poem as the title of her book.[4]
References
- ^ Byron, George Gordon, Lord (1905). The Complete Poetical Works (Cambridge ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 216.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ OED."She Walks in Beauty" Retrieved 3 January 2020
- ^ Cummings, Michael J. (2008) "Byron's She Walks in Beauty" at Cummings Study Guides. Retrieved 10 July 2014
- ^ Kennedy, Caroline. She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey Through Poems. New York: Voice, 2011, p. 1. The entire poem is also featured on the back cover.
Sources
- Garrett, Martin. George Gordon, Lord Byron. (British Library Writers' Lives). London: British Library, 2000. ISBN 0-7123-4657-0.
- Grosskurth, Phyllis. Byron: The Flawed Angel. Hodder, 1997. ISBN 0-340-60753-X.
- McGann, Jerome. Byron and Romanticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-521-00722-4.
External links
Works related to She walks in beauty at Wikisource- Hebrew Melodies. London: John Murray. Archive.org.
- Hebrew Melodies. London: John Murray. Hathi Trust.
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