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:
Thus
mellowed to that tender light
Which
Heaven to gaudy day denies.
One
shade the more, one ray the less,
Had
half impaired the nameless grace
Which
waves in every raven tress,
Or
softly lightens o’er her face;
Where
thoughts serenely sweet express
How
pure, how dear their dwelling place.
And
on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So
soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The
smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But
tell of days in goodness spent,
A
mind at peace with all below,
A
heart whose love is innocent!
Vocabulary:
clime: a region considered with reference to its climate
long holidays in sunnier climes
mellow:
1) (of fruit and wine) sweet and ripe or fully developed, esp. after being kept for a long time
2) (of a colour) soft and warm; not bright
3) (of people or behaviour) wise and gentle through age or experience
She used to have a fierce temper, but she's got mellower as she's got older.
4) infml (feeling) pleasantly calm and friendly, not nervous
The more wine he drank, the mellower he became.
5) to become mellow as time passes
The colours mellowed as the sun went down.
The years have mellowed him.
She's mellowed over the years.
gaudy: too bright in colour and/or with too much decoration
a gaudy display of trinkets
a gaudy display of wealth
(trinket: a piece of jewellery or other small decorative article of fairly low value)
raven-haired: shiny black hair
tresses: woman's long hair
serenely: completely calm and peaceful; free from trouble, anxiety, or sudden activity
a serene summer night
a serene smile
She just says what she thinks, with serene indifference to whether it may offend people
dwelling: to live
to dwell in a forest, on an island
city-dwellers / cave-dwellers
dwell on/upon: to think or speak a lot about, esp. to an unhealthy or annoying degree
Stop dwelling on your problems and do something about them!
The book dwells to much on the economic aspects of the problem.
eloquent:
1) able to express ideas and opinions readily and well, so that the hearers are influenced
an eloquent speaker
an eloquent appeal for support for the strike
2) expressing or showing something very strongly though without words
These ruins are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.
tints
1) a pale or delicate shade of a colour; slight degree of a colour
The painting glowed with beautiful autumn tints.
She has had red tints put in her hair.
2) to give a slight or delicate colour to
a sports car with tinted glass in all the windows
She has had her hair tinted (blue).
