Life Of Lord George Gordon Byron example essay topic

Analysis of Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" Lord George Gordon Byron was most notorious for his love affairs within his family and with Mediterranean boys. Since he had problems such as incest and homosexuality, he did not mind writing about his love for his cousin in "She Walks in Beauty". Byron wrote the poem after he left his wife and England forever. Byron made his own trend of personality, the idea of the 'Byronic Hero'. "Byron's influence on European poetry, music, novels, operas, and paintings have been immense, although the poet was widely condemned on moral grounds by his contemporaries" (Dick, 54). Overall, the study focuses on the life of Lord George Gordon Byron, imagery, and about the lyrics of "She Walks in Beauty".

Lord Byron was an English Romantic poet and satirist whose poetry and personality captured the imagination of Europe. As his name would show, Byron was born into a noble English family. He lived the life as a beggar, and a proud and snobbish genius focused only to his own passions. He was born with a deformity of one foot, which left him with a life long limp. However, he grew up to be a dark, handsome man, and women loved him, and he loved women. "His sexual exploits are legend" (Blair, 2).

Byron spent most of his adult life in England, making his first trip in 1809 with his school friend, John Hobhouse. Hobhouse returned to England leaving Byron to go on to Greece Bhakta 2 by himself. Byron tried to settle down into a regular life. He even went to the point of getting married, but it did not work out very well. By 1821, Byron was living in Italy where he was a part of a romantic literary circle. Byron was to get himself caught up with the war between the Greeks and the Turks.

In 1824, Byron left to go to Greece. Shortly, at the age of thirty-six Byron died of fever in Missolonghi, Greece. Lord Byron was a man whose passion for life seem incomparable to any of the other Romantic poets. Byron's personal character could be seen in his literature just as in his life. Lord Byron's most notable contribution to literature was Byronic Hero.

"It possessed many qualities which Lord Byron himself displayed in day to day life" (Doherty 86). Whether in search of women or adventure, the life of Lord Byron and his Byronic Hero have many similarities. The way that Lord Byron wanted pleasure for himself in his own way was another way he was like his literary characters. "This attitude of self-reliance is a distinguishing characteristic of both Lord Byron and his literary figures" (Parker, 88). "She Walks in Beauty" starts off from a traditional picture of a lady as fair and bright.

It links with the brightness of daylight, in its comparison of the mistress to the night. "The distinctive quality of the poem derives not from any departure from the norm but from a graceful elaboration of the conventions of compliment" (Seifter, 82). Avoiding unoriginal or obvious similes, Byron uses metaphors which expresses the idea of a quiet and slight glow. "The mistress like the night / Of cloudless climes and starry skies" (ll 1-2), not pitch dark but glimmering with a diffused light" (Seifter, 82). She is like a portrait in "chiaroscuro", her face is copied through an interaction of light and shadow. Bhakta 3 Her hazy beauty makes daylight seem bright.

"Imagery drawn from painting continues asa poet discusses the shades, rays, and tints that compose the mistress's particular radiance" (Seifter, 82). The flowing lines, rhymes, and imagery of light and dark give the impression of elegant and simple compliment. The poem starts off brilliantly. "The first four lines are beautifully phrased, and the opening couplet in particular has ingrained itself in the collective consciousness" (Blair, 1). "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 eyes" (ll 1-4). Also in evidence is the effortlessly perfect scansion that characterizes Byron's work (Beasley, 2).

"However, the latter two verses lose that quality of delicate beauty, and degenerate into a somewhat lifeless portrayal of a somewhat insipid set of traits" (Blair, 1). "Thus mellowed to that tender light / Which heaven to gaudy day denies" (ll 5-6). It just may be that the poem has not aged well. Several of Byron's most outstanding lyrics are the "Hebrew Melodies."According to Byron's prefatory remarks were written at the request of a friend, Douglas Kinnaird, and were to be set to traditional Hebrew tunes, as arranged by a young musician name Isaac Nathan" (Crompton, 55).

"She Walks in Beauty", one of the best of the tunes, was written the morning after Byron met a beautiful young cousin, Mrs. Robert Wilmot. She was wearing a black mourning gown, which was sequenced with spangles. The poem is a genuine, gentle, and honest compliment to beauty and innocence. "She Walks in Beauty" is the loveliest of Byron's poems, and the to the mind the most beautiful in the English language. It was written in aba bab form. The poem was Bhakta 4 inspired by the sight of Byron's cousin Mrs. Wilmot in a black dress one evening in 1814.

The young woman is a very innocent person, she has black hair and a graceful way of speech. The greatest feature is her eyes. The poem describes her graceful actions and movements. "Byron uses darkness to describe his love for the young woman, it is vague but it works" (Beasley, 1).

Romantic writers do not want to connect their brains or their feelings. "As he wrote it we cannot say but the same thought that was in his mind as other poets -that the beautiful sights and sounds of nature as well as the beauty of goodness pass into and inform the features of all those who give themselves up to these soothing and beneficent agencies (Dick, 81). In conclusion, "She Walks in Beauty" is one of the most beautiful poems written in English literature. Inspired by his beautiful cousins glamour, Byron wrote down how he felt about her. Later it became one of his first Hebrew Tunes.

His poetry and personality captured much attention of Europe. Sadly, Byron died of fever in 1824.