Iambic Tetrameter. An iamb is a poetic foot consisting of one weakly stressed syllable followed by one strongly stressed syllable. A line of poetry made up of four iambs is called iambic tetrameter. “She Walks in Beauty” is generally iambic tetrameter, though there are two lines which do not follow this pattern. Note the rhythm of “She Walks in Beauty” and note the lines which are not iambic tetrameter.
Simile. A simile is a comparison using like or as. As you read, identify the simile in “She Walks in Beauty.”
Repetition and Parallelism. Repetition is the author’s reuse of a sound, word, phrase, sentence, or other element. Parallelism is a literary technique in which a writer emphasizes the equal value or weight of two or more ideas by expressing them in the same grammatical form. As you read Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, note Byron’s use of repetition and parallelism.
Byronic Hero. The Byronic hero is a leading figure in a literary work who, like a hero in Byron’s works, is moody, passionate, proud, gloomy, adventurous, great-spirited, introverted, a bit disreputable by conventional standards, and a loner. As you read these selections from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, consider whether or not the speaker can be characterized as a “Byronic hero.”
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Byron wrote the first selection, “She Walks in Beauty,” after seeing Lady Wilmot Horton, his cousin by marriage, at an evening party where she was wearing a black mourning gown with glittering spangles. The next two selections, stanzas from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, are among the clearest and loftiest expressions of the Romantic view of nature as a source of spiritual renewal and inspiration.
How do you think a person’s personality affects his or her appearance to others?
If you could visit any natural wonder in the world, which would you choose: the Swiss Alps, the Grand Canyon, the fjords of Norway, or some place else? Why?
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