the light and darkness in the poems of Lord Byron
The Light and Darkness in the Poems of George Gordon Byron
Abstract: The thesis is about the analysis of light and darkness in the poems of George Gordon Byron. The analysis is based on the two poems-She Walks in Beauty and Darkness.
Key words: light, darkness, Byron, contrast, beauty, fight.
As a leading figure of Romantic Movement, George Byron is widely regarded as the most flamboyant and notorious one of the major Romantics. He was the ideal of the Romantic poet, embracing the power of heart over the power of mind and fighting for the independence of Greece. And he was once described by one contemporary as “mad, bad and dangerous to know” for his scandalous private life including huge debts, numerous love affairs and rumors of incest with his half-sister. It seems that in his life light was interwoven with darkness. But here, the “light” in the title is abstracted from She walks in Beauty—“Thus mellow'd to that tender light/ Which heaven to gaudy day denies.” And the “darkness” is from his poem Darkness. So the analysis of the light and darkness is based on the two poems.
She Walks in Beauty - beauty in light and darkness
By the contrasts between light and dark, the external beauty of the woman is vividly described and reflected in the first two stanzas. In the beginning, the light of star is contrasted with the shadow of night to emphasize the beauty of the woman. And “all that’s best of dark and bright” meets in her face and eyes, suggesting that she walks in a dark beauty but she is herself a brighter beauty. Then as the “tender light” is “mellowed”, her beauty is contrasted to the “gaudy” daylight. In the second stanza, Byron writes that “One shade the more, one ray the less” would diminish the “nameless grace” of the woman. Her dark hair and eyes are in contrast with her fair skin while the grace of her “lightens” her face. Then he turns to her inner thoughts that make the woman a pure and dear beauty.
In the final stanza, her cheek, brow and
Abstract: The thesis is about the analysis of light and darkness in the poems of George Gordon Byron. The analysis is based on the two poems-She Walks in Beauty and Darkness.
Key words: light, darkness, Byron, contrast, beauty, fight.
As a leading figure of Romantic Movement, George Byron is widely regarded as the most flamboyant and notorious one of the major Romantics. He was the ideal of the Romantic poet, embracing the power of heart over the power of mind and fighting for the independence of Greece. And he was once described by one contemporary as “mad, bad and dangerous to know” for his scandalous private life including huge debts, numerous love affairs and rumors of incest with his half-sister. It seems that in his life light was interwoven with darkness. But here, the “light” in the title is abstracted from She walks in Beauty—“Thus mellow'd to that tender light/ Which heaven to gaudy day denies.” And the “darkness” is from his poem Darkness. So the analysis of the light and darkness is based on the two poems.
She Walks in Beauty - beauty in light and darkness
By the contrasts between light and dark, the external beauty of the woman is vividly described and reflected in the first two stanzas. In the beginning, the light of star is contrasted with the shadow of night to emphasize the beauty of the woman. And “all that’s best of dark and bright” meets in her face and eyes, suggesting that she walks in a dark beauty but she is herself a brighter beauty. Then as the “tender light” is “mellowed”, her beauty is contrasted to the “gaudy” daylight. In the second stanza, Byron writes that “One shade the more, one ray the less” would diminish the “nameless grace” of the woman. Her dark hair and eyes are in contrast with her fair skin while the grace of her “lightens” her face. Then he turns to her inner thoughts that make the woman a pure and dear beauty.
In the final stanza, her cheek, brow and