Lord Byron’s poem opens with the same words that form the title: “She walks in beauty.” These four simple words quickly create an atmosphere of admiration and mystery. It is a short eighteen-line poem having three sestets (six lines) in praise of an unnamed woman. The poet uses several poetic devices to express how deeply he is impressed.
There are several themes. One is of course beauty. Each feature of the woman – her eyes, her black (raven) tresses, her soft cheek, her calm brow and the lovely colour of skin is praised. The poet speaks of harmony. He speaks of the perfect blend of day and night, of light and dark. He speaks of the ‘mellowed’ or tender light which makes the beauty so rare, delicate and astonishing. The other theme is the inner beauty which is what brings the outer beauty. He mentions ‘heaven’ [line 6] which may point to a divine side to the beauty. If a person is sinless their mind is pure and calm. There is no evil so the innocence inside causes the outer beauty which is indescribable – ‘nameless grace [line 8].
The poet uses simile [line 1] ‘like the night..’, alliteration – ‘cloudless climes’, ‘starry skies’. There is rhyme ababab in all the sestets. He uses metaphor raven tress [line 9], and personification – ‘smiles that win’ [line 15]. There are many examples of antithesis through which the poet stresses on balance. There is harmony of light – ‘dark and bright’, ‘tender light –gaudy day’, ‘one shade more, one ray less’. These are to emphasize that the beauty is not only physical and external, but actually because there is inner beauty. The mind is calm, the heart is innocent and this causes the outer beauty which is seen by him.
The poem is lyrical, has a steady rhythm and the language is rich with poetic devices. Though the poet does not name the woman, or give any details of her age, his admiration is felt in the tone.
The message is about the importance of inner beauty, which is almost a divine thing that will make external beauty possible.
I feel the poem makes us realize that one should look deeper than just outward appearance. One should appreciate beauty in its entirety.