Lord Byron (George Gordon)

Authorial Context: Lord Byron (1788–1824)

The poet and politician Lord Byron was born in London to a British officer, Captain John Byron, and his second wife, Catherine. Although Byron descended from aristocracy on both sides, he was raised in reduced circumstances. John Byron, who was known as a greedy womanizer, died when Byron was very young.

Byron attended and graduated from Trinity College like many great English writers before him, but he was not a model student. Instead of studying, he preferred chasing women and excelling at sports. He also began writing poetry at school.

After graduating, Byron toured Europe and Asia Minor: a common aristocratic practice. He used these new experiences to inspire Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812) and a series of Eastern tales, which skyrocketed him into fame once he returned to publish them in England.

But Byron did not stay in England for long. Following a brief stint in the House of Lords, during which he fought for the rights of industrial workers, Byron entered into a series of affairs. He had a brief marriage with Lady Caroline Lamb before it, and his reputation crumbled under rumors of his sexual exploits. Byron left the country for good in 1816.

1816 and 1817 were wild years for Lord Byron, during which he both wrote prolifically and, according to his count, had over 200 promiscuous encounters! He traveled with Romantic writers Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley before settling in Italy. There, he worked on his masterpiece, Don Juan, as well as tragedies and satires.

Byron's career and life ended when he decided to support the Greek revolution against the Ottoman empire. He won the favor of the Greek people for his spirit and leadership, but sadly Byron fell ill under the harsh conditions and died. He was partially buried in Greece, but most of his body was returned to England.

Byron's Legacy

Lord Byron is perhaps remembered as much for his life and personality as he is for his writing. Even he knew he was erratic, admitting in a letter that he was "so changeable" and "such a strange melange of good and evil."

As we will see, his poems and plays reflect this radical personality, drawing criticism from many. Nevertheless, the quality of his writing has always been universally admired. He created the figure of the Byronic hero: the brooding, arrogant, secretive protagonist that would become a staple of Romantic and Gothic literature. According to the Poetry Foundation,

In his dynamism, sexuality, self-revelation, and demands for freedom for oppressed people everywhere, Byron captivated the Western mind and heart as few writers have, stamping upon nineteenth-century letters, arts, politics, even clothing styles, his image and name as the embodiment of Romanticism.

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 [5]
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; [10]
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, [15]
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

"She Walks in Beauty"

Poem Highlights

• Theme

  Beauty in Darkness

  The "first generation" of Romantic poets, like William Wordsworth, primarily reflected on the joys of the sunshine, breeze, and colors of nature. But the second generation of Romantic poets found beauty and wonder in the darkness of night. Do you agree with Byron that the daylight is "gaudy" and that the starry night holds more beauty?

  

• Literary Device

  Simile

  The entirety of "She Walks in Beauty" centers around a simile (a comparison between two things using "like" or "as"): "She walks in beauty, like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies" (lines 1–2). The speaker points out several comparisons between the woman and a clear, starry night.

  • She combines "all that's best of dark and bright" (3)

  • She is mellow, not "gaudy" like the day (6)

  • Everything in her appearance is perfectly placed (7–12)

  • Like a starry night, she is "at peace with all below" (17); that is, her heart

  Poets use similes to explain specific things about their subject. A clear, starry night was the perfect way to describe this woman's aura.

• Literary Device

  Paradox

  A paradox is a person or thing that combines contradictory qualities. In this poem, both the starry night and the woman combine the best parts of darkness and light, which we usually consider to be opposing things.

• Literary Element

  Tone

  The speaker in "She Walks in Beauty" has a tone of wonder. We can imagine him standing and staring, open-mouthed, at this beautiful lady. Wonder is one of those extreme emotions that Romantics liked to seek after and write about, especially wonder at the beauty and power of nature.

  Therein lies a problem: the speaker looks at the woman as if she were a part of nature. In fact, he directly compares her to a natural thing (the starry sky). He then continues to assume things about her character based on only her appearance, without taking the time to speak with her. Although the speaker only says nice things about the woman, the wonder in his tone and the ways he describes her make her seem more like an object than another human being.

• Form

  Rhyme Scheme

  This poem's rhyme scheme is A-B-A-B-A-B. That means there are two rhyming sounds in each stanza that evenly interlock with one another. Does this rhyme scheme have a meaning?

  "She Walks in Beauty" emphasizes the harmony between light and dark. It argues that the two can be unified into one beautiful thing ... kind of like the two interlocking rhymes in each stanza of the poem.

  Selection from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto III (1816)

  Poem Context

  Childe Harold's Pilgrimage put Byron into the public eye as a writer. He published the first two cantos in 1812 but did not return to the work until 1816. The poem follows a young nobleman (called a "childe" in middle English) named Harold as he travels through Europe and the Mediterranean in search of meaning and truth. Many readers believe that Harold represents Byron himself. 

  In the opening lines of Canto III (below), Byron describes his own experience and feelings as he is "once more upon the waters." He addresses Ada, his daughter and his muse.

1.
Is thy face like thy Mother's? my fair child
Ada! sole daughter of my House and heart?
When last I saw thy young blue eyes they smiled,
And then we parted – not as now we part –
But with a hope – Awaking with a start, [5]
The Waters heave around me; and on high
The Winds lift up their voices: I depart,
Whither I know not – but the hour's gone by,
When Albion's lessening shores could grieve or glad mine eye.

2.
Once more upon the Waters! yet once more! [10]
And the waves bound beneath me as a Steed
That knows his rider. Welcome to their roar!
Swift be their guidance, wheresoe'er it lead!
Though the strained mast should quiver as a reed,
And the rent canvas fluttering strew the gale, [15]
Still must I on; for I am as a Weed,
Flung from the rock, on Ocean's foam to sail
Where'er the surge may sweep, or tempest's breath prevail.

3.
In my Youth's summer I did sing of One,
The wandering Outlaw of his own dark mind; [20]
Again I seize the theme, then but begun,
And bear it with me, as the rushing Wind
Bears the cloud onwards: in that tale I find
The furrows of long thought, and dried-up tears,
Which, ebbing, leave a sterile track behind, [25]
O'er which all heavily the journeying Years
Plod the last sands of life – where not a flower appears.

4.
Since my young days of passion – joy – or pain –
Perchance my heart and harp have lost a string,
And both may jar: it may be, that in vain [30]
I would essay as I have sung to sing.
Yet – though a dreary strain, to this I cling –
So that it wean me from the weary dream
Of selfish grief or gladness – so it fling
Forgetfulness around me – it shall seem [35]
To me, though to none else, a not ungrateful theme.

5.
He, who grown aged in this world of woe,
In deeds, not years, piercing the depths of life,
So that no wonder waits him; nor below
Can Love – or Sorrow – Fame – Ambition – Strife, [40]
Cut to his heart again with the keen knife
Of silent, sharp endurance – he can tell
Why Thought seeks refuge in lone caves, yet rife
With airy images, and shapes which dwell
Still unimpaired, though old, in the Soul's haunted cell. [45]

6.
'Tis to create, and in creating live
A being more intense, that we endow
With form our fancy, gaining as we give
The life we image, even as I do now.
What am I? Nothing – but not so art thou, [50]
Soul of my thought! with whom I traverse earth,
Invisible but gazing, as I glow
Mixed with thy Spirit, blended with thy birth,
And feeling still with thee in my crushed feelings' dearth.

7.
Yet must I think less wildly; I have thought [55]
Too long and darkly, till my brain became,
In its own eddy boiling and o'erwrought,
A whirling gulph of phantasy and flame:
And thus, untaught in youth my heart to tame,
My Springs of life were poisoned. 'Tis too late! [60]
Yet am I changed; though still enough the same
In strength to bear what Time cannot abate,
And feed on bitter fruits without accusing Fate.

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto III, stanzas 1–7

Poem Analysis

Byron's verse is moving and beautiful. It seems to flow as naturally as the waters he writes about. His verse also contains clear fingerprints of Romanticism:

• Byronic hero: In these lines, we get a taste of the Byronic hero, which was based both on Byron's characters and Byron himself. This figure suffers internal torment, a "haunting" of his heart, mind, and soul. In the last stanza, Byron describes this state:

Yet must I think less wildly; I have thought
Too long and darkly, till my brain became,
In its own eddy boiling and o'erwrought,
A whirling gulph of phantasy and flame:
And thus, untaught in youth my heart to tame,
My Springs of life were poisoned.

• Guidance of nature: Like Wordsworth, Byron is led by the waves of the sea: "And the waves bound beneath me as a Steed / That knows his rider. Welcome to their roar! / Swift be their guidance, wheresoe'er it lead!" (11–13)

• Intensity of emotion: Romantic poets embrace their strong emotions, even emotions like despair. 

• Individualism of the poet: Byron Romantically expresses his physical isolation and the grief he has suffered for his art.