She Walks In Beauty
October 10, 2012
Sharing this poem written by George Gordon Byron that I immensely like. It would be great to hear of your thoughts as they occur to you while reading this. I feel that it is quite interesting an idea to have an inkling of the different ways in which we all tend to read and respond to a work of art specially when it is as monumental, imaginative and provocative as this. Please do share what you feel. Thanks 
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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!
36 Comments
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Beautiful.
That little word surely says a lot Allen!
sometimes its very difficult for me to interepret something like a poem I seldom read them.. .. But still what I feel after reading this is in the poem itself…! : )
“So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,”
Thanks Sanju. I can understand what you say!
Molding light and dark,,like melting snow and rock.Complex poem yet nice.Jalal
your views are most welcome Jalal!
I visualize a pair of sleepy eyes of a cute little teenage girl trying to figure out stars in the cloudy sky…thinking of the all happy and sad experiences gone by!!!
(my random imagination while reading it)
That is quite interesting an observation Ela. One generally tends to read She Walks In Beauty as some sort of a ‘shringar ras’ (I hope you know what I mean here
) poem. Your comment makes me think quite otherwise! Thanks for the visit and the comment! Hope to hear more from you!
Beautiful as always
It is a very beautiful poem written in a simple and lucid language. Byron has sought to emphasise the simplicity, perfectness and mysteriousness of beauty by using light, darkness, stars and the sky. Beauty is light, but beauty is also deep and dark. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comment Uma. Yes, the simplicity of the language in this one is striking. To correlate beauty with light, depth and darkness is fascinating an idea too!
And as she moves with elegant steps,
with a freshness of breath in air,
fragrance pervading the way,
on which she walks with her graceful sway….
an sculpturesque she is ,
with the stars above ..
craving to be in
her jewels … bedecking her skin….
Hidden is her face,
she never revealed,
for theres a pearl sliding down.
along the carnation’s mound,
for it had experienced the feel …
and carries
the touch of her lover’s seal….
The poem is an unique one,the more you read ,the different and larger picture you imagine. The depth and the simplicity is awesome and striking.
what a fitting outpour of feelings and expression there! thanks so much for taking time out to respond. love your lines!
Thanks Amit for liking them!
The eyes are the window of the soul, he tries yet cannot fully express to the reader the fullness of his heart. Even the comparisons to nature’s glories fall short of what he feels when reflecting on the beauty revealed to him…
will have to agree with you there! thanks for the comment.
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;
Absolutely loved the lines!
Excellent,take a bow!
n I join you!
That was such a nice poem. Beautifully written Amit.
that poem isn’t mine Tapish!! It’s Byron’s!
Oops.. I directly read the poem and didn’t notice that. Just read the para above which mentions the same after I read your comment. Silly me!!
OK. I admit it . I have taken one too many philosophy/religion classes.
“….One shade the more, one ray the less…”
The shade of the material body, hides the soul and
“….half impairs the nameless grace….”.
Bingo!
That is insightful! Thanks!
I love this poem so very much, your illustrations make them even more beautiful.
I hate that poetry doesn’t do much for me. I feel like I’m missing out! BOO ME.
Oh…doesn’t matter that much Puneet! It’s just another art form!
let me first admire your skill of finding an appropriate image for the poetry. Picture is worth thousand words & you always justify the poem/prose with a powerful image.
)
and now if I may take some liberty in asking this …
“Why would you pick an image of a beauty with a back facing?:
…….
I mean why a beauty walking away from you … (Nawab or Nawabi thath was not in my mind for sure
Deeply thought about observations…I must say…will take me sometime to respond to that!
I came across this poem long time back, maybe when I was in the 7th or my 8th std. I liked this poem then, I like this one now, but if you happen to ask me to recite it by-heart, I won’t be able to do it. However, one single line which I can never forget is this one: “Meet in her aspect and her eyes”.
Quite right….that sums it all up so well!
How have you been RD??
I’ve been doing pretty good. You don’t seem very interested in blogs anymore, for you haven’t posted anything since ages.
After checking out a number of the articles on your website, I seriously appreciate your technique of blogging. I saved as a favorite it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Take a look at my website too and tell me how you feel.
Thanks for letting me camp out in your blog for a little while today. I had a great time and tried to leave my campsite as good as when I arrived. I’ll be back!
You are so most welcome Russel!!
Hope to see you around more often!
Cheers!
Thank you for reminding me of this beautiful poem I found many years ago in a book (do not remember the name…). This poem is perfect: it is written by a mature man who sees the Beauty of a woman he loved once through his feelings: so His feelings for her are the tool by which he can see her beauty, a beauty of the Soul. Only through Love you can see the real Beauty, and this beauty is universal and embraces the world, the stars…the All.This is my interpretation…sorry if it’s not clear…. Thank you for sharing.