SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY BY L O R D B Y R O N GEORGE GORDON BYRON, 6TH BARON BYRON, FRS, KNOWN SIMPLY AS LORD BYRON, WAS AN ENGLISH POET, PEER AND POLITICIAN WHO BECAME A REVOLUTIONARY IN THE GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, AND IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE LEADING FIGURES OF THE ROMANTIC MOVEMENT. WIKIPEDIA BORN: JANUARY 22, 1788, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM DIED: APRIL 19, 1824, MISSOLONGHI, GREECE FULL NAME: GEORGE GORDON BYRON, 6TH BARON BYRON POEMS: DON JUAN, SHE WALKS IN BEAUT Y, MORE BACKGROUND OF THE POEM Byron’s biographers agree about the occasion that inspired the poem. On June 11, 1814, Byron is said to have attended a party, perhaps a ball, at the home of a Lady Sitwell, and there to have seen for the first time his young cousin by marriage, Mrs. Robert John Wilmot, dressed in a black mourning dress adorned with spangles. Supposedly Byron wrote “She Walks in Beauty” either the same night or early the next morning. THEME The primary theme of "She Walks in Beauty“ by Lord Byron is the perfect beauty and goodness of an idealized woman. Byron makes no attempt to give his subject any individuality, instead making her universal, so that any man in love can understand his portrayal of beauty in the poem. The poem praises and seeks to capture a sense of the beauty of a particular woman. The speaker compares this woman to a lovely night with a clear starry sky, and goes on to convey her beauty as a harmonious "meeting" between darkness and light. After its discussion of physical attractiveness, the poem then portrays this outer beauty as representative of inner goodness and virtue. Her inner beauty enhances her outer beauty, making her perfect in the speaker's eyes.