Reeeeeemix: The Textbook (dun dun dun)

A poem, "She Walks in Beauty", by Lord Byron (George Gordon):

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!

And my analysis of it:

1. Dramatic Situation: a narrator describing his love for the subject
1. Speaker: an unseen observer, likely male, in eighteeth (?) century England
2. Structure: ABABAB/CDCDCD/EFEFEF; each line contains exactly 8 syllables
3. Theme: Love, obviously. The narrator describes everything that is lovely about the subject
4. Diction: manipulated to fit the structure ("o'er"); uses specific adjectives to illustrate the popular images of beauty and goodness, such as "innocent", "beauty", "eloquent", "tender", and "pure"
5. Grammar: semi-colons used to separate ideas within the poem
6. Images/Figures of Speech: creates an image of the woman through the descriptions of the things that make up her beauty
7. Tone: awestruck
8. Literary Devices:
1. Simile: "she walks in beauty, like the night"