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General Copyright/Disclaimer: Xena: Warrior Princess, Gabrielle, Argo and all other characters who have appeared in the syndicated series Xena: Warrior Princess, together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.

Note: All works remain the © copyright of the original author. These may not be republished without the author's consent.

Specific Story Disclaimer: This poem is constructed along the lines of a very specific imitation of Lord Byron's She Walks in Beauty. The new version, however, is at odds with Byron’s theme, which is that the woman in his poem is at peace and her beauty comes from a place of innocence. Instead, the Xena-tized version has the speaker believing that Xena’s beauty comes from having seen and endured everything, and the very fact that she was so evil is what makes her so love pure. It has never been touched in all her years of killing and slaughter, when she had submerged the possibility of love so deeply in order to give herself over to the focus needed for her actions based on hate and conquest. So I guess it should be said that this poem is about Evil pre-Gabrielle Xena, mostly.
If you are interested in looking at it alongside Byron's original, at the end I’ve split the page between the two.

Mail to: ailisa@hotmail.com

She Talks of Duty
by: ailisa

She walks in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes.

She talks of duty in a fight;
Of countless kills and sorry surprise
And all that's left of wrong and right
Meets in her intellect and her cries

This hallow'd to that destroyer's sight
Which Ares mortal man denies,

One blade more, one arrow less
Had half-impaired the warrior's grace
Which shows in violent focus
Or heavy falls upon her face--
Where thoughts chaotic horror confess
How pure, how dread their dwelling place

And on cheekbone, and o'er her brow
So stern, so calm, yet transient
The skills that win, the sins that grow
But tell of years in conquest spent
A mind at war with all below
A heart whose love is yet unspent.

 

 

She Talks of Duty
by: ailisa

She talks of duty in a fight;
Of countless kills and sorry surprise
And all that’s left of wrong and right
Meets in her intellect and her cries

This hallow'd to that destroyer’s sight
Which Ares mortal man denies,

One blade more, one arrow less
Had half-impaired the warrior's grace
Which shows in violent focus
Or heavy falls upon her face--
Where thoughts chaotic horror confess
How pure, how dred their dwelling place

And on cheekbone, and o'er her brow
So stern, so calm, yet transient
The skills that win, the sins that grow
But tell of years in conquest spent
A mind at war with all below
A heart whose love is yet unspent

 

 

She Walks in Beauty
by: Lord Byron

She walks in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes.

Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven gaudy day denies

One shade the more one ray the less
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every 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 in innocent.

 

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