Unit 2.7 She Walks in Beauty

Unit 2.7  She Walks in Beauty         George Gordon Byron

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!

 Lord Byron

PARAPHRASE OF THE POEM

 

First stanza:

          First stanza describes the physical appearance of the woman. Lord Byron starts the poem with the phrase,” she walks in beauty, like the night/of cloudless climes and starry skies’. Here the poet creates an image of a dark, clear sky with twinkling stars, and make a contrast between brightness and darkness. This contrast between brightness and darkness could mean diverse things, such as,” black hair’ and’ white skin’  or “ deep, black eyes and clear,’ white parts of the eyes’ the image created by this contract represents the cloth the woman is wearing, a black dress with sparkles on it.In the next line,” And all that’s best of dark and bright/meet in her aspect and her eyes,” we see how the opposite characteristics of darkness and brightness mentioned in previous lines reappear to mingle and create a wonderful harmony. In the last two lines of this stanza, we see another contrast in imagery. The darkness and brightness from lines above have ‘ mellowed” to become a” tender light’ and this gets contrasted with the expression ‘gaudy day” which inheres a negative connotation of excessiveness. Thus, the woman that the poet is praising is in great balance. Opposites ‘ meet’ in the woman to create a calm, soft image.

Second stanza:

          In the second stanza continues to praise the woman’s appearance but starting from line 11, the poet extends this external beauty onto the woman’s personality. In the phrase,’ Had half impaired the nameless grace,’ The poet tells us that the woman’s face is in such a perfect portion that just a slight change  would damage it.From the expression,” half impaired we could once again draw out two significant meanings. First it could mean that although the balance is destroyed, the beauty will still be half marvellous because it is only,’ half impaired,” or if we focus on the notion of “imperfection “when something is in half, the poet might be emphasizing the current,’ greatly balanced” status of the woman’s appearance which should not be destroyed. The expression,’ nameless grace” is also significant. By adding the word,” nameless in front of the word,’ grace’ the poet enlarged the woman’s beauty and greatness. Thereby, suggesting it as something so priceless that can’t be defined as expressed as a name. We could also understand that the woman has a black hair from the expression,” which waves in every raven tress’ compared with conventional qualities of “ beauty’ during the time when Byron wrote this poem,’ Black hair” which this woman has is extraordinary. This distinctiveness amplifies the woman’s beauty, as she distinguishes herself from others. Lastly, in the last two lines,” where thoughts serenely sweet express/how pure, how dear their dwelling place,’ we start to see how the woman’s inner beauty is reflected in her appearance.

          “Dwelling place’ which is where the mind and the spirit belong is also sweet and pure with this perfect inner quality added to her external beauty, the woman becomes more perfect.

Third stanza:

          Third stanza talks about the woman’s inner and outer charachteristic.Her cheek and her smiles are beautiful. In the phrases,” days’ in goodness spent ‘mind at peace’ and heat whose love is innocent. We understand that the woman’s inner thoughts are also as pure and graceful just as her appearance. As in previous stanzas, he once again shows the theme of this poem, which is the woman’s physical beauty along with his internal beauty.

Activities on Poem 

Courtesy SCERT UPDATED QUESTION BANK 

A1.    Choose :                                (02)

          Choose the appropriate option and complete the sentences.

a)       The beauty of the lady is compared with …………………………………….

          i)        Tree          ii)  Monalissa

          iii)  Cloudless starry night iv)          Rose flower

b)       Her face expresses …………………………………………

          i)  Thoughts serenely and sweetly          ii)        Anger and emotions violently

          iii)       Regret and repentance          iv) Loneliness and sadness.

c)       The lady’s hair are …………………………………………

          i)        light in colour          ii)         wavy and black

          iii)       yellow / golden          iv)          grey and white

d)       The mind of the lady is  ……………………………………………………..

          i)         Cruel and selfish          ii)          dirty and prejudiced

          iii)     devilish and repulsive          iv)          at peace with all below a heart.

A1.   True or false:                      (02)

          State whether the following statements are true or false.

a)       The poem depicts not only external beauty but also inner beauty of the lady.          (T)

b)       The lady in the poem has a winning smile and a glowing skin.   (T)

c)       The phrase,’ dwelling place” here refers to the native place. (F)

d)       Beauty is a perfection achieved though harmony and this is the key element of this poem.            (T)

A2.    Describe :                           (02)

          Inner beauty v/s Outer beauty.

          This extract primarily focuses on physical beauty; it also explores the relationship between inner beauty and outer beauty. It portrays these concepts as closely interconnected. Indeed, the woman’s outer appearance is read as a sign of her inner serenity, peacefulness and innocence.

A3.    Personal Response :          (02)

        "Beauty lies in the beholder’s eye” justify your answer with suitable examples in about Fifty Words.

(This is a Practice Activity for students.)

A3.    Personal Response :          (02)

          ‘When you feel beautiful, you are beautiful,” do you think is it true? Explain with suitable examples.

(This is a Practice Activity for students.)

A3.    Personal Response :          (02)

          “Do not judge a book by its cover,” do you think this proverb justify this extract.

(This is a Practice Activity for students.)

 

A4.    Poetic Devices :                (02)

          “She walks in beauty like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies”

          Name and explain the figure of speech used in the above line.

          The figure of speech used in the above line is an example of ALLITERATION because the initial sound “s’ is repeated.

          The figure of speech also used here is an example of SIMILE because the beauty of the lady is directly compared with the atmosphere outside and the comparison is made with the word,’like”

A4.    Poetic Devices :                  (02)

          “And all that’s best of dark and bright”

          Identify the figure of speech used here.

          The figure of speech used here is called as an ANTI-THESIS because two opposite ideas/contrasting words “dark” and “bright” are used in the same line.

A4.    Poetic Devices :                 (02)

          Pick out an example of ALLITERATION from the given extract.

          The examples are......

1.       She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies.

2.       So soft, so calm, yet eloquent. [ sound “s’ is repeated in a pleasant manner]

A4.    Poetic Devices :                 (02)

          “Where thoughts serenely sweet express

          How pure, how dear their dwelling place”

          Name and explain the figure of speech used here.

          The figure of speech used here is an example of Metaphor because it is an implied/implicit comparison between the thoughts with people, and dwelling places with the mind.

          “Raven tress” represents the dark hair of the lady.

A4.    Poetic Devices :                 (02)

          Complete the table by writing down the lines from the poem before the row.

              No. Figures of Speech  Lines from the Stanza

               01 SIMILE      

               02 METAPHOR      

               03 ALLITERATION      

               04 PERSONIFICATION      

             05 ANTI-THESIS    

  

A4.    Poetic Devices :                (02)

          Note down the Rhyme scheme used in the poem and also note down the Rhyming pair of words and complete the activity.

          No.   Stanza   Rhyme Scheme Rhyming pair of words.

          01 STANZA ONE     a  b  a  b  a  b Night-bright, skies-eyes

          02 STANZA TWO    c  d  c  d  c  d Press-tress, grace-face,                express-place

          03 STANZA THREE   e  f  e   f  e   f   Brow-glow, eloquent-spent,   Spent-innocent

A4.    Poetic Devices :                  (02)

          The poet creates an imagery of light and darkness to bring out the beauty of the lady.Find out the lines with such imageries and complete the table.

          No. Lines with Imagery Reason for using

          01 And all that’s best of dark and       To express the beauty of the bright eyes.

          02 One shade the more, one ray the less. To express the beauty of the hair which waves in every raven hair

         tress.

    

          03 A mind at peace with all below   To express the beauty of mind.

          04 A heart whose love is innocent To express the beauty of heart

A5.    Poetic Creativity :            (02)

          “She walks in beauty, like the night

……………………………………………………..

          And all that’s best of dark and bright

………………………………………………………..

          Compose two lines [line2 and line 4] of your own to make a meaningful composition.

A5.    Poetic Creativity :         (02)

          Compose four lines of your own on the Theme,” The real beauty”

          You may begin with,”

          She walks……………………………………………

          She smiles…………………………………………..

          Her heart……………………………………………..

          She is ……………………………………………………

A5.    Poetic Creativity :            (02)

          Compose a poem of four lines on ,” Beauty  of Nature”

A5.    Poetic creativity :             (02)

          “And on that cheek, and “O’ er that brow

          So soft, so calm, yet eloquent

          Replace the underlined words by another and compose a stanza.