POEM-11

FOR ANNE GREGORY

William Butler Yeats
Butler
William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865
-28 January 1939)
esof 20th- was an
-century literature. Apillar of the Irish literary Irish poet and
establishm he one of the
helped to To
found the
Theatre. and in his later years served two
terms as a enator of the Irish Free State. He
Senator was
a force behind the Irish
dnving force
Literary Revival along with Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn anu
xhers
FORM
Reflective poem
THEME Conventional ideas of beauty
People judge only by outer
CHARACTERS The young man, The appearance
young lady & The wise man
Central idea ofthe poem:
In this poem., the poet describes a conversation between himself and
named Anne Gregory. Lady Gregory's granddaughter
He tells Anne that her yellow hair is beautiful and that all the who claim to be in love
with her love her for that hair. young men

In other words, all men love

her for her outward
appearance and not for her inner beauty.
Anne then replies to the poet saying that she can easily dye her hair black or brown or orange, and
then she would look ugly.
If she looked ugly, then perhaps some man would look beyond her appearance and see her for who
she really is on the inside.
However, the poet quickly assures her that no such thing will happen. It is a universal truth that men
always judge women on their physical appearance alone.
Besides, even if Anne wants to look ugly, she cannot do so for she is a beautiful person on the inside.
The tone of this poem is light and relaxed.
Rhymescheme:
If we divide this poem of 18 lines into 3 units of 6 lines each, then each of these units will be found
to follow the same simple rhyme scheme, that is, ABCBDB.
Rhetorical devices:
Apostrophe
This rhetorical device is used when a poet addresses his or her poem to an absent audience. In this
poem, the poet follows the device of the apostrophe as he is addressing himself to Anne Gregory
DUt we the readers never see her at any point in the poem.

Metaphor:
his rhetorical device is used when a covert comparison is made between two different things or
deas. 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. Like the ramparts, her hair also protects her face from
being seen fully.
Metonymy
This rhetorical device consists of the substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of
e thing meant. In this poem, the poet uses the device of metonymy in the 9th line when he uses
the word "carrot" to mean the color orange while making suggestions about what color she can dye
her hair.

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English
XClass-C
Glossary
despair hopelessness
ramparts lock of hair around ear
colour used for hair
hair-dye
yesternight last night
declare to announce

text written material

Poetic devices used in the poem

Stanza 1 : Metaphor honey coloured ramparts
hair
Stanza 2 Alliteration And not your yellow

Rhyme Scheme abcbdb

Explanation
"Never shall a young man.
Stanza 1
Thrown into despair
By those great honey-coloured
Ramparts at your ear
Love you for yourself alone

And not your yellow hair"

In these lines, the speaker (most probably the poet) says to Anne that her beautful honey-coloured
in love with her. This love is not for Anmne
(yellowish) hair can make any young man fall hopelessly
but for her beautiful yellow hair.
Anne's honey-coloured hair (Outer beauty) around her ears have been compared to walls, which
can capture any man's attention in such
prevents anyone from looking inside her soul. This beauty
a way that he may never be able to look into Anne's inner beauty or character. Thus, no man can
love Anne for her inner beauty and neither he can love Anne for her yellow hair as he was thrown
into despair.
Stanza 2 "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.
In these lines, Anne replies to the speaker.
Anne says that she can get her hair-dyed and change the colour of her hair into brown or black
or carrot. She believes that such an act will make the young men love her for herself or her inac
beauty and not for her outward appearance (yellow hair).
Anne wants to convey that what is visible from the outside is very artificial. It is changeablean
thus is not important or true.

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CBSE
E n g l i s h

Stanza3
"I heard old religious
an man
But yestenight declare
That he had found a textto prove
That only God, my dear,
Could love you for yourself alone
And not your yellow hai"
es lines, the speaker mentions an old religious man who had announced last night that he had

atnd a religious text. lt 1s written in this text that only God is capable of looking beyond the external
lou
a person.
beauty of
Here, the speaker1means that humans do not have the capacity and understanding to look inside the
aul of a person. Humans are always attracted towards the outer beauty. They never care to Know
soul

the person behind the beautiful appearance. Therefore, the speaker finally tels Anne that only Crod
her for her mner qualities and not for her yellow hair.
can love
can

TEXTUAL EXERCISES
Thinking About the Poem
What does the young man mean by "great honey-coloured/Ramparts at your ear?" Why does
1 he say that young men are "thrown into despair" by them?
A. The young man in the poem praises the great honey-coloured hair of Anne. Anne's hair have been
called rampart., meaning a wall. It is called so because they act as a wall, as they prevent young men
from looking beyond those yellow hair and into her soul. Her hair his are so attractive that young
men cannot look at anything else. Anne's yellow hair are so pretty that young men hopelessly fall
in love with her. She is so pretty that everyone wants her, which cannot happen; hence, they are
thrown into despair.
What colour is the young woman's hair? What does she sayshecan change it to? Why would
she want to do so?
A. Anne's hair his are yellow, like the colour of honey. She says that she can change it to black, brown or
carrot; she means that she can change it to any colour she wants. Anne says so to show that outer beauty
is changeable and not permanent or real. She wants young men to look in her soul and love her for her
inner beauty. In order to do so, she needs to show them the superficiality of her external beauty.

Objects have qualities which make them desirable to others. Can you think of some objects (a
more desirable than another?
car,a phone, a dress...) and say what qualities make object
one

Imagine you were trying to sell an object: what qualities would you emphasise?
A. People desire objects because of their qualities that suit their need. The things we consume, goods
we use such as a car, a phone, a dress etc. physical qualities matter the most. Before buying anything,
l is always considered that the object is durable and looks pretty. ItT were to sell a dress, I would
Select the one that is very appealing to the eye and comfortable for the body. ThenI would emphasise
on the durability of the dress so that the customer feels that he/she is spending his/her money at the

nght place and in the right thing.

like their
qualities, whether physical or mental?
hat about people? Do we love others because
we

themselves alone'"? Are some people "more lovable' than

sit possible to love someone "for like the following.
ersDiscuss this question in pairs orin groups', considering points

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 English X Class-CBS
A parent or caregiver's love for a newborn baby, for a mentally or physically challeno
.
a clever child or a prodigy
nged child, fon
The public's love for a film star, a sportsperson, a politician, or a sOCial worker.

Your love for a friend, or brother or sister

4 Your love for a pet, and the pet's love for you.
A The students should attempt on their own.
5. You have perhaps concluded that people are not objects to be valued for their qualis
riches rather than for themselves. But elsewhere Yeats asks the question: How can we e
the dancer from the dance? Is it possible to separate "the person himself or herself" frons
the person looks, sounds, walks and so on? Think of how you or a friend or member o f
family has changed over the years. Has your relationship aso changed:? In what way your
A. The students should attempt on their own.

LITERATURE
Attempt the following
Q.I What did the young lady expect?
(a) her lover should love her for wealth. (b) her lover should love her for herself only.
of the above
(c) her lover should love her for behaviour only. (d) None
Q.2 Who was it that the poet had heard?
(a) A Priest b) An old religious man.
(c) A King (d) None of the above

Q.3 What matters for God more to love human beings?

(b) the inner qualities of human beings
(a) the outer qualities of human beings
(c) their rituals (d) none of the above

Q.4 What is the colour of the ramparts of the young lady?

(a) Golden (b) Honey (c) Silver (d) Brown
Q.5 How will the young man react to seeing the honey coloured rampats?
(a) He will be thrown into despair. (b) He will be thrown into happiness.
(c) He will be thrown into confused. (d) None of the Above

Q.6 What does the girl want?

(a) To be loved for herself (b) to be loved for her hair
(c) to be loved for her appearance d) to be loved for her riches
Q.7 Name the literary device used in "Never shall a young man, Thrown into despair By those great
honey-coloured"
(a) Oxymoron (b) metaphor (c) Assonance (d) Enjambment

Q8 What colour will the girl dye her hair into?

(a) black (b) brown (c) carrot (d) all of them
Q.9 Who can love us for who we are and not for how we look?
(a) poet (b) young boy (c) God (d) None of these
Q.10 Name the literarydeviceused in the line "honey-coloured ramparts at your ear"
(a) Oxymoron (b) metaphor (c) Assonance (d) None of these

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ENTRACTs
entract given below and ehoose the correct answer for the
ead the e n t r owing questions.
rigious
od man
hcand an
nght declare
Hat yester
That he had tound a text to prove
Go, my dear,
That only
for yourself
Culd love you
ester
erningt' is a word made ot combination ot two words to form a new word.
is a compound word
Hence. it
Chaose the wonds that DO NOT it the description.
Ch

1. day 4ffall
2. month- vester night S . out

3. year 6. moon
.34 .2.6 c.3,5 d. 1.4
Choose the option tnat lists the person who comectly wrote a quote best representing the central

idea of the given stanza.

Choose the correct option out of the ones given below.

Harpreet Manav Joel Nawaz

You can never
God loves you Your time is
Never apologize limited so
meet your |being yourself unconditionally
potential until as you are and not as you don't waste it
you truly learm should be. living
to love someone

yourself. else's life.

a Harpreet b. Manav c. Joel d. Nawaz
The above stanza strongly defies the idea of_
a internal qualities b. extemal beauty C.spintualself d. divinity
Choose the option that displays the likely image of the man mendioned in the extrat.

(2) (3) (4)

(1)
C.opuon 3 d.option 4
a opion 1 b. option 2
4 yourself
for alone.
D0ose the phrase that best represents, "love youc.Unrequited
a Unconditional love b. Unseemly love love d.U'nderstated love
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SHORT ANSWERS TYPE QUESTIONS
XClass CS
. What the two
are
things of the woman which make the young man not to love
A. The two things
of the woman that make the young man not to love her?
her are her
of her ear. The second honey colored.
thing is her yellow hair.
What can a woman do to
make young men love her? What does it speak eak about the von
at large? about
A. The young man says that she
young men
would colour her hair brown, black or carroty with
dyes. This means that the young men give more differen
importance to the physical appearance th han
than spiritua
beauty.
What are the important things for love for God
A. The young man says that an old religious man found a text. It proves that for God colours do
matter for love. God loves all the human beings for themselves alone and not their do not .

physical sidsides.
What message does the
poem give out?
A. The poem states that
physical beauty may be important for young men or the human beings. H,
loves the human beings without their colour or physical aspects.
Between whom does the conversation in the poem take
A. The poem is a conversation between
place
a speaker, who could be the poet himself, or Anne's lover
or friend
and Anne Gregory herself. The other
speaker believes that young man loves Anne for her extemal beauy
but Anne says that external beauty is not real and young man should love her for herself. uy

6. What does the poet mean by, "those great honey-coloured ramparts at your ear"?
A. Ramparts here refer to locks of Anne's beautiful yellow hair and external beauty that hides her soul
and true nature and lets other
people see only her outer self.
What has, according to the speaker, an old religious man found?
A. The speaker says that old religious man has found a text that proves that
an
only God is capable of
looking at a person's real self, beyond the external beauty.
Why is only God capable of loving Anne for herselr
A. Only God is capable of loving Anne for only herself because humans do not have the power to look
at the
beauty of soul. Only God is capable of not caring for the outer beauty, looking the beauty of
one's soul.

LONG ANSWERS TYPE QUESTIONS

The poet in the poem For Anne Gregory conveys that we should give importance to the inner
beauty and not the physical appearance. Elaborate with reference to the poem.
A. In the conversation that takes place between Anne
to show that inner beauty is real
Gregory and another speaker, the poet has tried
beauty whereas physical appearance is changeable and hence,
unimportant. The first speaker says to Anne that young men love her for her beautiful yellow hair
may never love her for what she really is. To this, Anne replies that her an
into black, brown or carrot, meaning that external
hair-colour can be changed

her for that. Through Anne's reply, the

beauty is all superficial and men should not lovE
poet has made clear his preference for internal beauty over
physical appearance.

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right or wrong is it to judge someone on the basis of hisher physical appearanee

How right o
the heip
the true account of a person as it can te changed with
al appearances never give
Physical

makeupand other such things

clothing,
is not true and real should not be used to judge the p carrying it. A pern
omething which
personiality
he iudged on the basis of his behaviour that shows the true characteristics of hiswhich attracts
y Anne in her reply to the first speaker that herbeautiful haircolour
hisisisexplaincd by,
This
explained
colour.
is changeable, hence, men should not fall in love with her based on her
men is changeable,
air

other speaker mentioned the old and the text that proves
you thinkthe religious man
do you
why do
Why
God can love Anne for herself alone?
that only God can love
The speaker mentior tioned thetext found by an old man that proves that only
religious
A Anne for herself alone. It is so because the speaker wanted to tell Anne that her desire that ien
Anne.
to be fulfilled. The speaker tells Anne
that only (God
should not see her outer beauty is going
not
on the other hand,
falls for all
be so great as to avoid external beauty and look beyond it. Man,
can
from outside and never bothers about what lies inside.
things that appear pretty

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