The poem describes the biblical destruction of the Assyrian army that attacked Jerusalem. In 3 sentences: The Assyrian army arrived in Jerusalem gleaming in armor but was destroyed overnight by the Angel of Death who breathed a plague on the sleeping army, leaving the riders and horses dead on the field. All was silent in their camp the next morning with banners waving alone and weapons untouched, and the widows of Assyria wailed while their false gods lay broken, as the might of the Assyrians melted before God.

1. GEORGE GORDON LORD
BYRON (1788-1824)
By: Grace Filipcic, Madeline Hart, Chris Becerra,
Amy, Rutherford, Chase Klopfenstein

2. BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION:
1788-Byron was born on January 22nd
1790-Taken by mother to Aberdeen,
Scotland.
• “Emotionally unstable, Catherine
Byron raised her son in an
atmosphere variously colored by
her excessive tenderness, fierce
temper, insensitivity, and pride.”

3. 1794- He becomes heir to the title
of his grand-uncle the “Wicked” Lord
Byron.
1801-1805- He fell in love with his
distant cousin Mary Chaworth, the
grand-niece of Lord Chaworth. Her
uncle was killed by George’s uncle, the
“Wicked” in a duel. She did not feel
the same for Byron, so in turn she
marries John Muster in 1805.

4. 1806- His first volume, Fugitive Pieces, was privately
printed and then destroyed upon the Rev. John Becher’s
protests against certain poems.

5. 1812 (March-August)-George Byron and Lady
Caroline Lamb had a very well publicized affair
which gained him immediate fame.
He referred to her as “Caro”, which
she adopted as her public name.

6. 1813- His affair begins with
his half-sister Augusta.
1813- “When We Two
Parted
1814- They have a daughter
named Medora
1814- “She Walks in Beauty

7. He later becomes engaged
to Annabella Milbanke.
1815- Marries Annabella
and has a daughter named
Augusta Ada,
1816- Lady Byron and
George Byron formally
separate on agreed terms.

8. 1817- Byron and Claire Clairmont had daughter named Allegra
1817- “So We’ll Go No More Roving”—compares age and
youth

9. 1817- “Manfred”—
dramatic poem, ghost story
(very popular at the time)
1818- “Don Juan”—story
that’s been retold as early as
1630, about a man who
devotes his life to seducing
women

10. 1823- He joined a powerful Greek politician to free Greece
of the Ottoman Empire
Even though he had little military experience, he planned to
lead an army
1824- However, he fell ill
He died April 19th, 1824

11. FUN FACTS
He was born with a clubbed
foot
His father died at the same
age as him (36)
He drank from human skulls
(Hamlet?!)
By age 21 he had contracted
gonorrhea and syphilis

12. SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 1814

13. 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!
1
2
3

14. 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.
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 1
She is beautiful like the night sky
Of a clear and bright night
Both good and dark
Meet in her eyes
The stars outshine her in the night
But the day disagrees

15. 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.
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 2
If you add anything more to her, she becomes
less
This would ruin her beauty, so don’t define her
With her black soft silky hair
Or her pale face that shows through
Her face expresses her sweet thoughts
How innocent, how unique her face suggests

16. 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!
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY 3
With her cheek and her brow (forehead)
She becomes sweet, and leveled, yet
powerful,
Her smile beats all, her blush glows bright,
Of the days she has spent doing good,
She is at peace, above all others
With a heart of innocent love. (Pure, non-
sexual)

17. TITLE: SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY

18. SPEAKER
 The speaker of She Walks in Beauty admires the innocence and purity
of a woman. He values her balance of dark and light, an achievable state
of perfection. He is speaking specifically about one woman by
describing her features and being, but in doing so, he does not refer to
her sexually, but as “innocent” and “pure.” A trait in which he finds
appealing. He is a man with the perfect view of a woman at balance
with herself and at peace with the world.

19. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Simile: Line: 1
• “She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies…”
• This simile helps define who this woman is. It is very different,
comparing a woman to the night, but this is not meant in a
prostitute sense. She is compared to a specific night of clear
skies and bright stars. This comparison is meant to explain that
the woman is like the stars at night; she also stands out, and
again like the absent clouds, she is made clear, even in the
darkest of settings. She is a star in the night with no clouds to
encompass her.

20. Chiasmus: 7
• “One shade the more, one ray the less…”
• This form of chiasmus is greatly needed to the purpose
of the poem. It reveals that you could not add one
more thing or take one more thing away from this
woman to make her any better. Byron uses chiasmus to
put her in a state of perfection. He is saying that to
change her would make her imperfect. She stands her
ground in the middle, balancing her way through life,
remaining in the light and the dark, with no need of
anything more or less.

21. Asyndeton: Line: 14
• “So soft, so calm, yet eloquent…”
• The speaker is describing the beauty of her facial
features like her cheeks and forehead. He uses
asyndeton because this device is a good form of
describing things with many adjectives, so quickly, that
you almost loose sight of the fact that these adjectives
are somewhat contradictory. Even though she is calm
and level headed, she is also expressive and moving.
This again reflects how the speaker found a well-
rounded woman with both sides of submissive and
domineering qualities.

22. Synecdoche: Line: 18
• “A heart whose love is innocent! ”
• This synecdoche represents a larger purpose, saying
that her heart is innocent love. He is telling the reader
that there is such a possibility of a non-sexual love
with purity and grace. This idea holds a truthful and
honest sense of the woman because instead of
describing only her being, the speaker related her to
this idea and to make her mean something greater.
She instead becomes more than herself to uphold this
belief. She becomes an icon or symbol for those
searching for love to model after. She becomes
monumental in the readers eyes.

23. ABABAB Iambic Tetrameter:
• Byron wanted to strategically arrange his words combining
a rhyme scheme and a meter. He wrote by iambic
tetrameter, this means he had four iambs in each line with
an ABABAB rhyming format. He structured the poem
with precision, but something unusual happened in line
four. A metrical inversion occurred. Instead of staying on
the normal unstressed then stressed rhythm, it changed to a
stressed then unstressed form, only for that line and then
switches back to its original format. Byron wanted to call
attention to this specific line “Meet in her aspect and her
eyes” to explain that he is not only specifying her physical
beauty, but her entire being, what she stands for and who
she is. He doesn’t want to limit her meaning to a mere
physical form. This again relates to how she embodied the
idea of a non-sexual love.

24. ATTITUDE
Admiringly child-like:
• The poem suggests the speaker’s admiration for the
woman, but never a love for her. He appreciates the fact
that her outer beauty mirrors her inner beauty. The
woman in the poem holds a truth and pureness found in
children that is common in the Romantic Era. This poem
is an influence for women to strive for innocence. The
speaker used admiringly, nonsexual, wholesome words to
convey the woman and her essence.

25. SHIFTS
 Once again I want to mention the shift in the iambic tetrameter that we took
notice to in the figurative language section. I found that this shift also called
attention to the fluidity of the lines around it.
 In other instances multiple shifts occur while working together. On lines 11 and
12 the tone shifts from complementing her outer beauty to her inner beauty. Then,
on line 13, the tone shifts back to speaking of her outer beauty. Then on line 16, it
turns around again towards her inner beauty. Byron does this to show that he cares
for both sides of her. He wants to incorporate both her physical beauty and the
beauty from her mind and actions. He again emphasizes the well-rounded woman.

26. THEME
 One of the major themes alludes to woman’s nature: “A mind at peace
with all below,/ A heart whose love is innocent” (17-18). These lines
reflect in this theme on how the woman’s physical beauty is a reflection of
her inner beauty. Byron conveys that her mind is at peace with all, and her
heart is full of innocent love. Byron is explaining that the inner and outer
beauty is a reflection and a connection to each other.
 Another theme is the purity and innocence of people in the Romantic
Era. They strived for the child-like innocence. This came from the idea of
individualism. Byron gave this woman that quality and it made her an idol
for those to model after. She encompassed perfection in the eyes if those
in this era.

27. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How do you think this poem may be similar to
most of Byron’s love affairs?
What about this poem is much like the Romantic
Era and how does it display the ideas of that era?
How can this poem be related to modern society?

28. THE DESTRUCTION OF
SENNACHERIB 1815

29. The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.
For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

30. And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

31. The Assyrian came down like the wolf
on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in
purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like
stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on
deep Galilee.
DESTRUCTION 1
The Assyrian arrived fast on the hill,
And his companions were shining in
purple and gold armour;
And their spears shined like stars in
the ocean
And they appeared as a wave
crashing upon Galilee in the night

32. Like the leaves of the forest when
Summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset
were seen:
Like the leaves of the forest when
Autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered
and strown.
DESTRUCTION 2
And like the green leaves of
summertime
The Assyrian’s banners where shown
at day’s end
And like the leaves of the autumn
wind
The Assyrians lay crumpled and
scattered

33. For the Angel of Death spread his
wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as
he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed
deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and
for ever grew still!
DESTRUCTION 3
For death had arrived, blasting his
wings
And breathed in the Assyrian’s faces as
he walked
And their eyes grew fearful and cold
And their heart’s beat once, and then
no more

34. And there lay the steed with his nostril
all wide,
But through it there rolled not the
breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white
on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-
beating surf.
DESTRUCTION 4
And the horse stood with wide
nostrils
And they did not breathe pride at
all
It’s foam from exhaustion lay on
the hill
And it was cold like the ocean

35. And there lay the rider distorted and
pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust
on his mail:
And the tents were all silent, the
banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpet
unblown.
DESTRUCTION 5
And it’s rider was tainted and deathly
white
With plenty of sweat and rust on his
armour
The tents were quiet, and the banners
divided
The tools of war left unused and
useless

36. And the widows of Ashur are loud in
their wail,
And the idols are broke in the temple
of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote
by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of
the Lord!
DESTRUCTION 6
And the widows cried loudly
And the false gods are destroyed
in the Devil’s lair
And the strength of the heathen,
untouched by the blade,
Withered before the gaze of
God.

37. SPEAKER
The speaker of the poem is a narrator describing the biblical
events regarding Sennacherib’s attack on Jerusalem and its horrible
failure. He is in awe of the might of God and his Angels, and he
speaks of them reverently. He is using this as a story to portray his
views on the might of the Christian God above the other gods of
other religions. He is also admiring the subliminal nature of war
and the Bible, with Death doing what he does best.

38. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Anapest
• The poem is written in anapest, which is a line scheme in
a pattern of two unaccented syllabled followed by an
accented one. An example can be seen in the line “And
the MIGHT of the GENtile, unSMOTE by the
SWORD.” This is used to create a musical rhythm to the
piece, to make it more of an epic than just a simple
poem.

39. AABB Rhyme Scheme
• The poem uses an AABB rhyme scheme, with
the same intent as the Anapest, to add that
extra feeling of might and awe to this ballad
of a poem. The consistent rhyming is easy to
follow and is followed almost perfectly
throughout the poem, with only one close
rhyme, ‘wail’ and ‘Baal’. Byron wanted to
reflect the epicness and subliminal nature of
the bible with this scheme, and it is done so
quite successfully.

40. Simile
• “The Assyrian came down like the wolf on
the fold.” The speaker is comparing
Sennacherib to a wolf on the hunt. This
effectively conveys the feeling of a predator
approaching its prey, and much like the wolf,
he is not attacking alone. The simile is
• strengthened by the unstated similarity
between the Alpha wolf’s pack and
Sennacherib’s army behind him, ready to
engage the target, the city of Jerusalem.

41. Alliteration
• “And the sheen of their spears was like stars
on the sea.” This rhetorical device places
emphasis on the sheer beauty and size of the
invading army, as well as its strength. The
spears resemble the stars, and the soldiers
wielding them are as mighty as the ocean.
This is an army that has defeated several other
holy cities, and Byron wishes to portray that
sense of power.

42. Alusion.
• “For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the
blast.” Both Biblically and artistically, Death has
been represented as a physical being. In the
Christian sense, he is an Angel of God sent to
smite those whose time has come, as well as the
heathens threatening the Holy Land. Byron was
strongly influenced by religion, and he was
reverent towards the Angels, and what better way
to portray the death of an army than in the hands
of a warrior Angel?

43. ATTITUDE
Reverently Awe-struck
• While the poem may not have great meaning to some readers, it
reflects Byron’s beliefs and reverence for Christianity and the wrath
of God. He is not sympathetic or sorrowful towards the Assyrians;
rather, he is admiring the sublime nature of God’s will and his
awesome power over the weak and frail mortal men. He builds upon
this by dedicating the first two stanzas to
• describing the powerful nature of the endless Assyrian army, only to
have Death come in and wipe it off the face of the earth at God’s
command.

44. SHIFTS
 The first shift occurs after the opening description of the Assyrian
army in its might, with the follow-up sentence continuing the leaf simile
“Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown.” The focus of
reverence in regards to the army is replaced with an awe of Death, as the
army is reaped on the battlefield which it had created. The second shift
occurs with the widows crying, as the focus is now in the aftermath of the
battle, where the army crumbles, along with the false gods in their
temples, before the might of God.

45. THEME
 The theme of the poem is the all-powerful wrath of God and the subliminal, epic
yet horrifying nature of war. This is best illustrated with the lines “Like the leaves of
the forest when Autumn hath blown, That host on the morrow lay withered and
strown.” The great army of Sennacherib is compared to autumn leaves, scattered
and frail upon the battlefield; Great soldiers, crumpled and broken mercilessly.
Byron prominently displays the common conception of God in the Romantic era as
a being full of passion, passion which can be turned into the wrath we see in the Old
Testament. This is a great example of that awesome power of war and death, and it’s
disturbing nature, and we can still relate to this today.

46. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
 How does this poem’s conception of God differ from the one we
encountered in the Neoclassical era? Explain with quotes.
 How does this poem reflect the appreciation for the sublime, valued in
the Romantic era? Explain with quotes.
 What is the significance of Byron using two similes regarding leaves of
the forest in two different seasons, Summer and Autumn, in regards to the
Assyrian army? Explain.

47. WORKS CITATIONS
 http://www.egs.edu/library/lord-byron/biography/
 George Gordon (Noel) Byron by John Spalding Gatton
 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/lord-byron
 http://ezinearticles.com/?Lord-Byrons-She-Walks-in-
Beauty&id=40911