She Walks in Beauty Summary

the first two lines, Byron express that the woman walks in beauty like a cloudless and starring night, that is, the woman is beautiful as a starring night is, too. This is the first time that the theme of darkness appears (in night), contrary to the light which is expressed by the stars of the sky. That opposition is repeated along the three stanzas of the poem, because the author is talking about the beauty and that opposition is used to express it, to compare the opposition with beauty. In that sense, Byron feels that beauty is something which is dark and light, something apparent and at the same time, something occult. Furthermore, in the third and fourth lines, the author tells the reader how her face and her eyes are, and the opposition appears again, in the sense that the woman’s eyes and face reflect the dark and the light. This is the manner Byron understands beauty: beauty is bright, but also is dark; it is something that is mysterious, but also light, clear; it is something that is apparent, and we can see it with light, but it is something occult, which is the dark part because we need more efforts to see that part. And the last lines of the first stanza are another way to express that contrast, that opposition.
The second stanza starts saying that her beauty is perfect because it is in the right proportion. There is nothing that must be eliminated and nothing that must be added: she is perfect. Moreover, we can see the contrast between dark and light again, and it is explained because her beauty is perfect due to the proportion between dark and light, and in that sense, Byron explained that she is the nameless grace: her beauty is so perfect that it cannot have name. Then, in lines 11, 12, 13 and 14 (third, fourth, fifth and sixth lines of the second stanza), Byron writes some characteristic of the woman’s beauty: “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.”. Byron states that her raven tress and her face are softly illuminated (light). Furthermore, Byron express that her thoughts are serene, pure and sweet, and it is normal if we think that her thoughts are in relation with her beauty (it is pure, sweet, calm, perfect). In that point Byron is arguing that the external beauty is related to the internal one. She is beautiful into herself as much as she is outwardly.