She Walks in Beauty

The central theme of the poem is the idea of beauty. Within that one abstract word, there are multiple ideas to unpack. The theme suggests a woman isn’t beautiful but aligns with beauty or “walks in beauty” (Line 1). Beauty and the woman in the poem are separate. The speaker doesn’t directly call the woman beautiful but says she moves within its sphere. The nameless woman and beauty aren’t the same. At this moment, the woman can keep up with beauty, but there may come a time when beauty and the woman don’t walk together any longer. The careful wording that distinguishes between beauty and the woman indicates that the theme of beauty is ephemeral—it’s not a permanent, everlasting trait.

In the lyric, beauty has its haunting qualities. The speaker compares it to a “night” (Line 1) of “starry skies” (Line 2) and suggests beauty brings together all that’s “dark and bright” (Line 3). Here, the theme of beauty is somewhat odious or, better put, not altogether positive. The poem subverts the notion that beauty is a bright, wholesome condition. There is something dark or shadowy about beauty. The woman’s “raven tress” (Line 9) or black hair confirms the link between beauty and mystery.