FOR ANNE GREGORY (First Flight)

FOR ANNE GREGORY (First Flight)(CLASS 10)

BY
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

NEVER shall a young man,
Thrown into despair
By those great honey-coloured
Ramparts at your ear,
Love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.'
'But I can get a hair-dye
And set such colour there,
Brown, or black, or carrot,
That young men in despair
May love me for myself alone
And not my yellow hair.'
'I heard an old religious man
But yesternight declare
That he had found a text to prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hair.

1.  How is Anne Gregory connected to this poem?
The poem is basically a conversation between the poet, Yeats and a young girl named Anne Gregory. The poet tells her that if she finds a young boy who becomes sad because of her rejection, it doesn't mean that he was a true lover. He could have been in love with her because of her beautiful yellow hair.
2. Poetic devices used in the poem.
Apostrophe: In this poem, the poet follows the device of the apostrophe as he is addressing himself to Anne Gregory, but we the readers never see her at any point in the poem. Metaphor: In this poem, the poet uses the device of metaphor on the 4th line when he compares Anne Gregory's hair with the ramparts of a castle.
3. Why is Anne Gregory’s hair compared with the ramparts of a castle?
The “great honey-coloured/Ramparts at your ear” refers to the beautiful yellow coloured hair that falls at the woman's ear and cover it like a wall around a fort. He says that the young men are “thrown into despair” by them because they look so beautiful on the woman that her beauty gets thoroughly enhanced.(the word ramparts mean a parapet wall )
4. Why did William Butler Yeats write this poem?
In 1898, Yeats met Lady Augusta Gregory, an aristocrat and a poet who shared his passion for old Irish folktales and legends. Lady Gregory encouraged him to write plays on this very theme, and together they established the Abbey Theatre.
5. What are Anne’s thoughts about external beauty?
Anne doesn't believe in external beauty and wants to be loved for herself. she says that her beautiful hair that attract so many men can be changed and coloured differently. This shows that Anne thinks that external beauty is not important and it is changeable
6. Why does the poet say thrown into despair?
Thrown into despair means getting disappointed or becoming hopeless. The poet says so because Anne was so beautiful that the boys will become hopeless on being rejected by her.

7.    What did the text say?
(a) God and animals love you for yourself alone.
(b) God alone who loves you for yourself alone.
(c) God and friends love you for yourself alone.
(d) None of the above

8. For what will the man love her?
(a) The man will love her for behaviour.
(c) The man will love her for herself.
(d) The man will love her for beauty.
(b) The man will love her for wealth.

9. What is the poet’s view on people & love in the poem ‘For Anne Gregory’?
(a) People love others on the basis of physical attraction

(b) The colour of skin & hair is more important for people
(c) The real worth of a person hardly matters
(d) All of the above

10. What do we rarely do as per the poet of the poem ‘For Anne Gregory’?
(a)We run behind physical appearance
(b)We rarely love people for themselves alone
(c)We give importance to skin & hair colour
(d) All of the above.