GEORGE GORDON LORD BYRON (1788-

1824)

By: Grace Filipcic, Madeline Hart, Chris Becerra,

Amy, Rutherford, Chase Klopfenstein

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:

1788-Byron was born on January

22nd

1790-Taken by mother to

Aberdeen, Scotland. • “Emotionally unstable,

Catherine Byron raised her son in an atmosphere variously colored by her excessive tenderness, fierce temper, insensitivity, and pride.”

1794- He becomes heir to the

title of his grand-uncle the

“Wicked” Lord Byron.

1801-1805- He fell in love with

his distant cousin Mary Chaworth,

the grand-niece of Lord Chaworth.

Her uncle was killed by George’s

uncle, the “Wicked” in a duel. She

did not feel the same for Byron, so

in turn she marries John Muster in

1805.

1806- His first volume, Fugitive Pieces,

was privately printed and then destroyed

upon the Rev. John Becher’s protests against

certain poems.

1812 (March-August)-George Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb had a very well publicized affair which gained him immediate fame. He referred to her as “Caro”, which she adopted as her public name.

1813- His affair

begins with his half-

sister Augusta.

1813- “When We

Two Parted

1814- They have a

daughter named

Medora

1814- “She Walks in

Beauty

He later becomes

engaged to Annabella

Milbanke.

1815- Marries Annabella

and has a daughter named

Augusta Ada,

1816- Lady Byron and

George Byron formally

separate on agreed terms.

1817- Byron and Claire Clairmont had daughter

named Allegra

1817- “So We’ll Go No More Roving”—compares

age and youth

1817- “Manfred”—dramatic poem, ghost story (very popular at the time)1818- “Don Juan”—story that’s been retold as early as 1630, about a man who devotes his life to seducing women

“Old man! ‘Tis not so difficult to die!”

1823- He joined a powerful Greek politician to free Greece of the Ottoman EmpireEven though he had little military experience, he planned to lead an army1824- However, he fell illHe died April 19th, 1824

FUN FACTS

He was born with a clubbed footHis father died at the same age as him (36)He drank from human skulls (Hamlet?!)By age 21 he had contracted gonorrhea and syphilis

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 1814

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!

1

23

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.

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 1

She is beautiful like the night

sky

Of a clear and bright night

Both good and dark

Meet in her eyes

The stars outshine her in the

night

But the day disagrees

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.

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 2

If you add anything more to her, she becomes less

This would ruin her beauty, so don’t define her

With her black soft silky hair

Or her pale face that shows through

Her face expresses her sweet thoughts

How innocent, how unique her face

suggests

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!

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 3

With her cheek and her brow (forehead)

She becomes sweet, and leveled, yet powerful,

Her smile beats all, her blush glows bright,

Of the days she has spent doing good,

She is at peace, above all others

With a heart of innocent love. (Pure, non-sexual)

TITLE: SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY

SPEAKER

The speaker of She Walks in Beauty admires the innocence

and purity of a woman. He values her balance of dark and

light, an achievable state of perfection. He is speaking

specifically about one woman by describing her features and

being, but in doing so, he does not refer to her sexually, but as

“innocent” and “pure.” A trait in which he finds appealing. He

is a man with the perfect view of a woman at balance with

herself and at peace with the world.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Simile: Line: 1• “She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies…”

• This simile helps define who this woman is. It is very different, comparing a woman to the night, but this is not meant in a prostitute sense. She is compared to a specific night of clear skies and bright stars. This comparison is meant to explain that the woman is like the stars at night; she also stands out, and again like the absent clouds, she is made clear, even in the darkest of settings. She is a star in the night with no clouds to encompass her.

Chiasmus: 7• “One shade the more, one ray the

less…”• This form of chiasmus is greatly needed to

the purpose of the poem. It reveals that you could not add one more thing or take one more thing away from this woman to make her any better. Byron uses chiasmus to put her in a state of perfection. He is saying that to change her would make her imperfect. She stands her ground in the middle, balancing her way through life, remaining in the light and the dark, with no need of anything more or less.

Asyndeton: Line: 14• “So soft, so calm, yet eloquent…”• The speaker is describing the beauty of her

facial features like her cheeks and forehead. He uses asyndeton because this device is a good form of describing things with many adjectives, so quickly, that you almost loose sight of the fact that these adjectives are somewhat contradictory. Even though she is calm and level headed, she is also expressive and moving. This again reflects how the speaker found a well-rounded woman with both sides of submissive and domineering qualities.

Synecdoche: Line: 18• “A heart whose love is innocent! ”• This synecdoche represents a larger purpose,

saying that her heart is innocent love. He is telling the reader that there is such a possibility of a non-sexual love with purity and grace. This idea holds a truthful and honest sense of the woman because instead of describing only her being, the speaker related her to this idea and to make her mean something greater. She instead becomes more than herself to uphold this belief. She becomes an icon or symbol for those searching for love to model after. She becomes monumental in the readers eyes.

ABABAB Iambic Tetrameter:• Byron wanted to strategically arrange his words

combining a rhyme scheme and a meter. He wrote by iambic tetrameter, this means he had four iambs in each line with an ABABAB rhyming format. He structured the poem with precision, but something unusual happened in line four. A metrical inversion occurred. Instead of staying on the normal unstressed then stressed rhythm, it changed to a stressed then unstressed form, only for that line and then switches back to its original format. Byron wanted to call attention to this specific line “Meet in her aspect and her eyes” to explain that he is not only specifying her physical beauty, but her entire being, what she stands for and who she is. He doesn’t want to limit her meaning to a mere physical form. This again relates to how she embodied the idea of a non-sexual love.

ATTITUDE

Admiringly child-like:• The poem suggests the speaker’s admiration for

the woman, but never a love for her. He appreciates the fact that her outer beauty mirrors her inner beauty. The woman in the poem holds a truth and pureness found in children that is common in the Romantic Era. This poem is an influence for women to strive for innocence. The speaker used admiringly, nonsexual, wholesome words to convey the woman and her essence.

SHIFTS

Once again I want to mention the shift in the iambic tetrameter that we

took notice to in the figurative language section. I found that this shift

also called attention to the fluidity of the lines around it.

In other instances multiple shifts occur while working together. On lines

11 and 12 the tone shifts from complementing her outer beauty to her

inner beauty. Then, on line 13, the tone shifts back to speaking of her

outer beauty. Then on line 16, it turns around again towards her inner

beauty. Byron does this to show that he cares for both sides of her. He

wants to incorporate both her physical beauty and the beauty from her

mind and actions. He again emphasizes the well-rounded woman.

THEME

One of the major themes alludes to woman’s nature: “A mind at peace with all below,/ A heart whose love is innocent” (17-18). These lines reflect in this theme on how the woman’s physical beauty is a reflection of her inner beauty. Byron conveys that her mind is at peace with all, and her heart is full of innocent love. Byron is explaining that the inner and outer beauty is a reflection and a connection to each other.Another theme is the purity and innocence of people in the Romantic Era. They strived for the child-like innocence. This came from the idea of individualism. Byron gave this woman that quality and it made her an idol for those to model after. She encompassed perfection in the eyes if those in this era.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How do you think this poem may be similar to

most of Byron’s love affairs?

What about this poem is much like the Romantic

Era and how does it display the ideas of that era?

How can this poem be related to modern society?

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB 1815

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen: Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail: And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

The Assyrian came down like the

wolf

on the fold,

And his cohorts were gleaming in

purple and gold;

And the sheen of their spears

was like stars on the sea,

When the blue wave rolls nightly

on deep Galilee.

DESTRUCTION 1

The Assyrian arrived fast on the

hill,

And his companions were shining

in purple and gold armour;

And their spears shined like stars

in the ocean

And they appeared as a wave

crashing upon Galilee in the night

Like the leaves of the forest

when Summer is green,

That host with their banners

at sunset were seen:

Like the leaves of the forest

when Autumn hath blown,

That host on the morrow lay

withered and strown.

DESTRUCTION 2

And like the green leaves of

summertime

The Assyrian’s banners

where shown at day’s end

And like the leaves of the

autumn wind

The Assyrians lay crumpled

and scattered

For the Angel of Death spread

his wings on the blast,

And breathed in the face of the

foe as he passed;

And the eyes of the sleepers

waxed deadly and chill,

And their hearts but once

heaved, and for ever grew still!

DESTRUCTION 3

For death had arrived,

blasting his wings

And breathed in the

Assyrian’s faces as he walked

And their eyes grew fearful

and cold

And their heart’s beat once,

and then no more

And there lay the steed with

his nostril all wide,

But through it there rolled

not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping

lay white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the

rock-beating surf.

DESTRUCTION 4

And the horse stood with

wide nostrils

And they did not breathe

pride at all

It’s foam from exhaustion

lay on the hill

And it was cold like the

ocean

And there lay the rider

distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and

the rust on his mail:

And the tents were all silent,

the banners alone,

The lances unlifted, the

trumpet unblown.

DESTRUCTION 5

And it’s rider was tainted and

deathly white

With plenty of sweat and rust

on his armour

The tents were quiet, and the

banners divided

The tools of war left unused

and useless

And the widows of Ashur are

loud in their wail,

And the idols are broke in the

temple of Baal;

And the might of the Gentile,

unsmote by the sword,

Hath melted like snow in the

glance of the Lord!

DESTRUCTION 6

And the widows cried loudly

And the false gods are

destroyed in the Devil’s lair

And the strength of the

heathen, untouched by the

blade,

Withered before the gaze of

God.

SPEAKER

The speaker of the poem is a narrator describing the biblical

events regarding Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem and its

horrible failure. He is in awe of the might of God and his Angels,

and he speaks of them reverently. He is using this as a story to

portray his views on the might of the Christian God above the

other gods of other religions. He is also admiring the subliminal

nature of war and the Bible, with Death doing what he does

best.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Anapest • The poem is written in anapest, which is a line

scheme in a pattern of two unaccented syllabled followed by an accented one. An example can be seen in the line “And the MIGHT of the GENtile, unSMOTE by the SWORD.” This is used to create a musical rhythm to the piece, to make it more of an epic than just a simple poem.

AABB Rhyme Scheme • The poem uses an AABB rhyme scheme,

with the same intent as the Anapest, to add that extra feeling of might and awe to this ballad of a poem. The consistent rhyming is easy to follow and is followed almost perfectly throughout the poem, with only one close rhyme, ‘wail’ and ‘Baal’. Byron wanted to reflect the epicness and subliminal nature of the bible with this scheme, and it is done so quite successfully.

Simile • “The Assyrian came down like the wolf

on the fold.” The speaker is comparing Sennacherib to a wolf on the hunt. This effectively conveys the feeling of a predator approaching its prey, and much like the wolf, he is not attacking alone. The simile is • strengthened by the unstated similarity

between the Alpha wolf’s pack and Sennacherib’s army behind him, ready to engage the target, the city of Jerusalem.

Alliteration • “And the sheen of their spears was

like stars on the sea.” This rhetorical device places emphasis on the sheer beauty and size of the invading army, as well as its strength. The spears resemble the stars, and the soldiers wielding them are as mighty as the ocean. This is an army that has defeated several other holy cities, and Byron wishes to portray that sense of power.

Alusion. • “For the Angel of Death spread his wings

on the blast.” Both Biblically and artistically, Death has been represented as a physical being. In the Christian sense, he is an Angel of God sent to smite those whose time has come, as well as the heathens threatening the Holy Land. Byron was strongly influenced by religion, and he was reverent towards the Angels, and what better way to portray the death of an army than in the hands of a warrior Angel?

ATTITUDE

Reverently Awe-struck • While the poem may not have great meaning to some

readers, it reflects Byron’s beliefs and reverence for Christianity and the wrath of God. He is not sympathetic or sorrowful towards the Assyrians; rather, he is admiring the sublime nature of God’s will and his awesome power over the weak and frail mortal men. He builds upon this by dedicating the first two stanzas to

• describing the powerful nature of the endless Assyrian army, only to have Death come in and wipe it off the face of the earth at God’s command.

SHIFTS

The first shift occurs after the opening description of the

Assyrian army in its might, with the follow-up sentence

continuing the leaf simile “Like the leaves of the forest when

Autumn hath blown.” The focus of reverence in regards to the

army is replaced with an awe of Death, as the army is reaped on

the battlefield which it had created. The second shift occurs with

the widows crying, as the focus is now in the aftermath of the

battle, where the army crumbles, along with the false gods in

their temples, before the might of God.

THEME

The theme of the poem is the all-powerful wrath of God and the

subliminal, epic yet horrifying nature of war. This is best illustrated with the

lines “Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on

the morrow lay withered and strown.” The great army of Sennacherib is

compared to autumn leaves, scattered and frail upon the battlefield; Great

soldiers, crumpled and broken mercilessly. Byron prominently displays the

common conception of God in the Romantic era as a being full of passion,

passion which can be turned into the wrath we see in the Old Testament.

This is a great example of that awesome power of war and death, and it’s

disturbing nature, and we can still relate to this today.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How does this poem’s conception of God differ from the one

we encountered in the Neoclassical era? Explain with quotes.

How does this poem reflect the appreciation for the sublime,

valued in the Romantic era? Explain with quotes.

What is the significance of Byron using two similes

regarding leaves of the forest in two different seasons,

Summer and Autumn, in regards to the Assyrian army?

Explain.

WORKS CITATIONS

http://www.egs.edu/library/lord-byron/biography/

George Gordon (Noel) Byron by John Spalding

Gatton

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lord-byron

http://ezinearticles.com/?Lord-Byrons-She-Walks-in

-Beauty&id=40911