Summary ‘For Anne Gregory’
The poem ‘For Anne
Gregory’ comprises three stanzas. The summary is given here stanza-wise to make
it more comprehensible and enjoyable.
The poem is a conversation between a young man and
a young lady ‘Anne Gregory’ known for her beautiful hair.
Summary:
In the first
stanza, the speaker, a young man, says that her (Anne Gregori’s) beautiful
honey-coloured hair can make any man fall in love with her. This love is not
for Anne but for her beautiful features. Anne’s gorgeous hair has been compared
to walls, symbolising outer beauty that prevents anyone from looking inside her
soul. This beauty can capture any man’s attention so that they may never be
able to look beyond that beauty and into Anne’s character. This is what makes
the speaker believe that no man can love Anne, for what she is, without her
beauty. One can love her only for her beautiful yellow hair and her beauty.
In the second stanza, Anne replies to the
speaker of the first stanza. She says that what is visible from the outside is
very superficial and not important. She gives an example of her beautiful hair,
that she can change the colour of her hair and dye it black, brown or carrot.
Just like the colour of her hair is changeable, outer beauty of any kind is changeable
and hence not true. She wants to tell the speaker that anyone falling in love
with her must see the actual person behind the beauty. Anne thinks that young
men, who fall in love with her, must love her for what she is and not for her
yellow hair or outward appearance.
In the third and final stanza of the poem, the
speaker replies to Anne’s statement about love for internal and not for
external beauty. The speaker mentions an old religious man, who announced that
he had found a text in which it is written that only God is capable of looking
beyond external beauty. Here speaker means that humans do not have the depth
and understanding to look inside the soul of a person. Humans are always
carried away by the shine and glitter of outer beauty and they never care to
know the person behind the beautiful appearance. Therefore, the speaker
concludes that only God can love Anne only for herself and not her beauty.
Word Meanings
Despair—hopelessness, here it means failure
in succeeding or even expecting to get the love of Anne Gregory
Ramparts—a defensive wall of a fort but here
it means a lock of hair around the ears; here it is a metaphor as her hair
covers her face like ramparts cover and protect a castle. The hair acts as a
wall and protects her face from being seen fully or entering to feel the inner
beauty of the soul of Anne Gregory. Men will stop just at loving her outward
beauty.
Dye—a substance used to change the colour
of hair
Carrot—of carrot colour
Yesternight— the previous night
Text—matter, original writing
Declare—to announce or tell others or claim
Prove—to demonstrate and show the truth by
evidence or argument
Explanation ‘For Anne Gregory’
“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.”
The speaker, addressing Anne Gregory, says that her beautiful
honey-coloured hair can make any man fall in love with her. This love is not
for Anne but for her beautiful external features. Her beautiful hair is
compared to wall, symbolising outer beauty. This beauty can capture any man’s
attention. But he may not be able to look beyond that into Anne’s character. So
the speaker says that no one can love Anne, for what she is. One can love her
only for her beautiful yellow hair and her physical beauty.
“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 this stanza Anne replies to the speaker that she can change the
colour of her beautiful hair and dye them in black, brown or carrot. She wants
to tell the speaker that anyone falling in love with her must see the actual
person behind the beauty. She thinks that young men, who fall in love with her,
must love her for what she is and not for her 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.”
In the last stanza, the speaker replies to Anne about the importance of
love for internal beauty not the external one. The speaker talks about an old
religious man, who announced that he had found a text in which it is written
that only God is capable of looking beyond external beauty. He means that
humans do not have the insight and understanding to look into the soul of a
person. They are swayed away by the glitter of outer beauty. Therefore, only
God can love Anne only for herself and not for her physical beauty.
(Poet) WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
(1865-1939) –
He was an Irish nationalist. He was educated in London and Dublin, and
was interested in folklore and mythology. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature
in 1923.
Morals and Message of ‘For Anne
Gregory
(1) True love is
never based on physical attributes alone.
(2) True love is
only based on the inner beauty of heart, mind and soul.
(3) It is only
God who loves His people selflessly.
11. For Arme Gregory-W. B.Yeats
Summary:
In this poem, a young man argues that
no man with in this world shall love her for her inner beauty, the beauty of
the soul. The people in this world love only outward beauty. He also tells her
that people would love her golden hair and her beautiful face. The poet further
says that it is only God, who loves us for our inner goodness.
She tells the poet that she would not accept
the person who loves her physical beauty only.
Q1 The central idea of the poem For Anne
Gregory.
Aus. The poet says that our inner
beauty is more important. Physical beauty without the beauty of the soul is
incomplete But, in this world, physical beauty is given more importance. This
is ironical.
Q2. How was the young man in the poem "For
Anne Gregory’ thrown into despair?
Ans. The poet says that a person gets into
despair at the knowledge that all riches and glory are useless. This physical
world has to get reduced at last. In such despair, a person may try to win
others’ affection by any means.
Q3. How can the young woman die her hair? Why?
Or . What colour is woman's hair ? Why would she want to change them?
Ans. The young woman’s hair is of
yellow colour. She wants that someone should love her due to her inner beauty.
So, she wants to change the colour of her hair from yellow to brown, black or
carrot.
Q4. What did the old religious man declare?
Ans. The old religious man declared
that God never loves a person for his outside appearance. He loves him for his
inner beauty. So, one should do good actions to become good at heart.
Q5. How was the young thrown into despair in
the poem for Anne Gregory?
Ans. Once, this young man enjoyed a
high position of power and wealth. But now, this position is last forever. So,
he is thrown into despair.
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