She Walks In Beauty

     In June of 1814, several months before he met and married his first wife Anna Milbanke, Lord Byron attended a party at Lady Sitwell’s. While at the party, he was inspired by the sight of his cousin, the beautiful Mrs. Wilmot, who was wearing a black spangled mourning dress. Lord Byron was further inspired by his cousin’s dark hair and fair face, the mingling of various lights and shades. This became the essence of his poem about her. According to Byron’s friend, James W. Webster, after seeing his cousin for the first time Byron had a few drinks and went to bed. He heard afterwards the Byron was in a sad state all night and woke up the next day and composed the charming lines upon her-She walks in Beauty like the Night.

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 mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd 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

     In the first line of this poem there is a segment of a sentence which then continues onto the second line of the first stanza. I interpreted the first line as “She” referring  to Mrs. Wilmot as she “walks” carries the “beauty “ being her face “like the night” being the darkness, this could be confusing if the reader didn’t continue to the second line. “Of cloudless climes and starry skies” cloudless climes mean that the sky has no clouds and the starry skies mention that the sky is lite with stars. The first to sentences combine to show the opposing qualities of darkness and light that are shown in the features of Mrs. Wilmot’s face. The following lines of the first stanza refer to the woman’s face and eyes as reflecting both the greatest of dark and of light. She is also able to have both features in her face and still be breathtakingly beautiful, just like the cloudless night.
     The second stanza mentions that the lady’s face is nearly perfect and flawless. The shades and rays of dark and of light are in unison to create a beautiful charm within her face. This part of the poem signifies the romantic idea of how the lady’s inner beauty is mirrored by her outer beauty. Her thoughts are sweet and calm and they are shown in her face as pure and dear.  
     The first three lines describe physical characteristics of the woman and how her beauty could enlighten any person. The last lines of the third stanza are repetitious in a way that it states the inner mind is shown also with her facial expressions and how her face can shine like the cloudless night.