Discussion of themes and motifs in Lord George Gordon Byrons She Walks …

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The first three are all from Lord George Gordon Byron, 1817-1822 whose The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 1817, was a major literary success. This one, the fifth in the series, is also about hermetic and occult things. And the very last one is another poem about hermetic things. The very last line is:She walks in beauty, not in pain. It means that this poem, which seems to have some weird mystical, almost religious significance, seems to be about hermitude. It doesnt look like its saying about God or anything, just about beauty. You frown again, and then you think about your dad, who doesnt seem to have any particular religious beliefs or even a particular religious philosophy, so you realize that she probably just doesnt have any real beliefs of her own. You wonder why she wrote this poem, then you figure that she was talking about her own inner spiritual state. Your sister seems to be very religious, so maybe she had a similar experience to you, and it made her want to express it in a poem. Well thats strange, you say, before realizing that its probably time to return to school. You start to tell your sister what you mean, about how odd poetry like this is, but before you can say anything shes already started the car up and put the windows down. We have these big, wide lawns, and theres a very big fountain and a big swimming pool, and you can play in the big sandpit. Im telling you, youre going to love it here. Okay, well you can say whatever you want, she says. Then she starts the car up and drives off. You follow her, but she doesnt respond. You call out to her a little louder. She comes to a stop at the edge of the lake, then she turns around and walks away. You go to the lakeYou walk back to the lake.

This article about She walks in beauty theme…