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

Once described as “mad, bad and dangerous to know” by his lover Lady
Caroline Lamb, poet Lord Byron (1788–1824) was the heartthrob of 19th-
century London, setting the fashion for every tousled, troubled troubadour who
has followed to the present day. Despite George Gordon Byron’s terrible
reputation, no one could resist the lyrical, romantic overtures in his love
poems, and this tender verse gives us a hint as to why. Make sure to read the
poem in its entirety in The Selected Poetry of Lord Byron.