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.
