She Walks in Beauty

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Lord Byron’s “She walks in Beauty * Try to sum up what is typically Romantic in the poem, what is not Romantic - possibly older attitudes and values - and what must have been provocative about Byron's poem There are a lot of typically romantic things in this poem. One of the most obvious things is the way that Byron compares her to the beautiful night sky, and almost explaining that “all that’s best of dark and bright, meet in her aspect and her eyes”. This means that Lord Byron is telling us, the readers, that this woman is really beautiful, by describing her through day and night (and not evil and good, as one would usually assume dark and bright being) Another typically romantic thing, is the last verse in the third stanza “A heart whose love is innocent”. This is very romantic, because Byron is almost saying that this woman is beautiful, but also very smart, and that she knows what she’s doing, by being innocent. If one were to point out a verse in the poem, that might not be that romantic, it would be “Where thoughts serenely sweet express”. Personally, I don’t find the word “serenely” very fitting in this poem, because it’s like Byron backs away from describing her beauty, and instead doubts something about her. I would assume that this poem might have been provocative to some, because of the way he describes the woman in the poem, and also because of some of the adjectives he uses, especially “Gaudy” and “Serenely”. * Would you see this woman as sexually attractive? Explain and discuss I would see this woman as sexually attractive yes, because of the way she is describes through the nature and sky. She is described as beautiful, but also somewhat mysterious in a way, for example in the second stanza, first verse “One shade the more, one ray the less”. I get the feeling that she is pretty, but also mysterious through this verse. * Does
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