SWIB- context/content/structure

• context:

  • written in 1813
  • romantic poet
  • notorious womaniser
  • inspired by ‘Lady Wilmot’, his cousin by marriage
  • he saw her at a ball in. a mourning dress with sequins sewn in
  • doesnt say he’s in love with her; he just celebrates and admires her beauty
• content:

  • written to represent perfect beauty
  • he wrote it as a way of admiring her from afar
  • her purity is what he admires but its also the thing that makes her vulnerable
• structure:

  • 3 stanzas of equal length to perhaps convey her everlasting beauty
  • as the poem progresses, there’s more focus on her inner beauty rather than external appearance
  • the narrator supposes that her outer beauty is a reflection of her moral character
  • the present tense narration makes the womans beauty seem omnipresent
  • the continuous enjambment suggests the narrator is overwhelmed by her beauty