She Walks in Beauty

Lord Byron · Non-African poetry — England, 1814 · WAEC set text 2026–2030

What it is doing

A woman seen at a party, in mourning dress (black, with sparkles). Byron does not tell a story; he holds a still image of harmony between dark and bright, inner and outer.

What to listen for

Simile (“like the night”); balanced opposites (dark/bright, one shade/one ray); alliteration; the last stanza moving from face to mind and heart.

She Walks in Beauty — Lord Byron (public domain)

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!

In the exam

Romantic lyric. Beauty as moral as well as visual — “a heart whose love is innocent”. You can quote this one in full; it is short and public domain.