She Walks in Beauty

Lord Byron — Hebrew Melodies

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.

Byron wrote "She Walks in Beauty" in 1814, reportedly after seeing his cousin by marriage, Anne Wilmot, at a party in a black mourning dress covered in sequins. Published in his 1815 collection Hebrew Melodies, it remains one of the most famous opening stanzas in English Romantic poetry.