Happy Monday friends! I hope you packed some notebooks:
So today we are in ENGLAND and we will explore:
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems, Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and the short lyric poem, She Walks in Beauty. He traveled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years with the struggling poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in his brief life, Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero.
Poem:
It is said that this poem was inspired by a cousin-in-law of Lord Byron. She was wearing black when he saw her first. Yet, I have my own interpretation.
I remember I first heard this poem being read out loud in one of my literature classes in France. It was a rainy day, and the professor just read to us and remember the first thought that came into my mind was - Vampire.
To me this poem could be about anything really, but the romantic surrounding I heard it in, set a portrait of a beautiful, forever young woman, who is as beautiful and cold as night, that walks as an angel carrying a mortal weakness, to never be able to love, and she brings death to anyone she loves.
Sweet Lord, why can't someone write a book about that!
Let me know what you think of this poem guys!
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!
Thoughts:
I remember I first heard this poem being read out loud in one of my literature classes in France. It was a rainy day, and the professor just read to us and remember the first thought that came into my mind was - Vampire.
To me this poem could be about anything really, but the romantic surrounding I heard it in, set a portrait of a beautiful, forever young woman, who is as beautiful and cold as night, that walks as an angel carrying a mortal weakness, to never be able to love, and she brings death to anyone she loves.
Sweet Lord, why can't someone write a book about that!
Let me know what you think of this poem guys!
See you next Monday!
