英美文学10 George Byron.pptVIP

George Gordon Byron She walks in beauty Background about the Poem This is by far, the most quoted poem of Lord Byrons.? It was inspired by Mrs. Wilmot, Byrons cousin, when he saw her wearing a spangled dress at Lady Sitwells party in June, 1814. Byrons friend, James W. Webster, had written about the event . . .? . I did take him to Lady Sitwells party in Seymour Road. He there for the first time saw his cousin, the Beautiful Mrs. Wilmot. When we returned to his rooms in Albany, he said little, but desired Fletcher to give him a tumbler of Brandy, which he drank at once to Mrs. Wilmots health, then retired to rest, and was, I heard afterwards, in a sad state all night. The next day he wrote those charming lines upon her --She walks in Beauty like the Night.... A love poem about a beautiful woman and all of her features. Throughout the poem, Byron explains the depth of this woman’s beauty. Even in the darkness of death and mourning, her beauty shines through. Her innocence shows her pureness in heart, and her pureness in love. The two forces involved in Byrons poem are the darkness and light- at work in the womans beauty, and also the two areas of her beauty-the internal and the external. The Isles of Greece The Isles of Greece The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece!?? Where burning Sappho loved and sung, Where grew the arts of war and peace,?? Where Delos, and Phoebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet, But all, except their sun, is set. (Sappho: Greek lyric poet : Appollo Delos: a name of island; Phoebus) Question 1 What does Greece mean to Europeans? Greek civilization is the fountainhead of the European culture. Question 2 Allusions are frequently used in this poem. Try to interpret the function of allusions in the stanza. burning Sappho the arts of war and peace Phoebus to set a sharp contrast between the past and the present of Greece. “but all, except the sun, is set” 2 The