Language and style
To better understand “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron we must address the language and the style of the poem.
Playing with the language
Lord Byron plays with language quite a lot in “She Walks in Beauty”. First of all, the title itself is a bit ambiguous. We do not know who “she” (l. 1) is and why is she so important to Byron. Then, the fact that she “walks” in beauty is quite strange, as one would expect beauty to be expressed in some other way. Still, the focus is on walking. On the one hand, her style of walking might be graceful and beautiful. On the other hand, her entire stature might be what amazes the speaker.
The author also plays with language by employing several metaphors and figures of speech. We will further detail them in another section of the study guide but, for now, keep in mind that the metaphor “raven trees” is employed to depict the unnamed woman’s dark hair. Another metaphor employed in stanza 2 is that of the “dwelling-place” (l. 12), which depicts the woman’s mind.
Tense of the verbs
The dominant verb tense in “She Walks in Beauty” is present tense simple. The woman, although depicted sometime around 1813, becomes eternal through her beauty. The fact that Byron chose to immortalise her beauty in a poem also maintains her beauty intact and eternal throughout the centuries. This is why the woman still “walks” (l. 1) in beauty, her smiles “win” (l. 15) and her cheeks “glow” (l. 15).
Another tense employed in “She Walks in Beauty” is past tense. The past perfect “had half impaired” depicts the fact that an imbalance of darkness and light would have affected the woman’s beauty. The past simple “spent” shows the fact that the woman spent her time helping others and doing good deeds.
