Page 57 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit
P. 57
“She Walks in Beauty”
by George Gordon, Lord Byron, page 33
Vocabulary
climes – climates
aspect – appearance, facial appearance
gaudy – extravagant, flashy
1. What color is the woman’s hair?
The speaker describes her hair as a “raven tress,” inferring that her hair is black (this is
also an example of a metaphor).
2. The first line of the second stanza includes two contrasting images. What are they, and
what literary device does the poet use to present them?
The images of shade and sunlight are examples of antithesis.
3. According to the speaker, where is “all that’s best of dark and bright” reflected in the
woman he sees?
He sees the best of both dark and bright in the woman’s face and eyes.
4. Based on the woman’s beauty, what kinds of conclusions does he draw about her
demeanor, thoughts, and lifestyle?
In the second stanza, he writes of how her beautiful hair rests over her face, which reflects
her peaceful, calm thoughts, and the fact that she is “pure.” In the final stanza, she is
“soft, so calm, yet eloquent,” and her face alone tells him of “days of goodness spent,” and
that her mind is “at peace,” and her heart is full of a love that “is innocent.”
T-39
