Poem Overview

For Anne Gregory is a short but meaningful poem by William Butler Yeats. The poem is written as a conversation between a young man and a young woman named Anne Gregory.

The young man tells Anne that young men may fall in love with her beautiful yellow hair, but they may not love her true inner self. Anne replies that she can change the colour of her hair to brown, black or carrot so that someone may love her for herself alone.

In the final stanza, the young man says that according to an old religious man, only God can love a person for the person’s true self and not for outward beauty. The poem explores the difference between physical attraction and true love.

Summary in English

In the poem, a young man speaks to Anne Gregory. He tells her that young men may become deeply attracted to her because of her beautiful honey-coloured hair. He compares her hair to ramparts near her ears, meaning it appears like golden walls surrounding her face.

The young man believes that men who admire Anne may love her outer beauty, especially her hair, but not necessarily her real personality or inner self. He doubts whether anyone can love her for herself alone.

Anne replies that she can change the colour of her hair. She says she can dye it brown, black or carrot-coloured. She believes that if she changes her hair colour, young men may stop loving her only for her yellow hair and may start loving her for her true self.

In the final stanza, the young man says that he heard an old religious man declare that only God can love a person for the person’s self alone and not for physical beauty. The poem ends with the idea that human beings often fail to separate inner worth from outer appearance.

सारांश हिंदी में

For Anne Gregory कविता में एक युवक और Anne Gregory नाम की युवती के बीच संवाद है। युवक Anne से कहता है कि युवा पुरुष उसके सुंदर पीले/सुनहरे बालों के कारण उससे प्रेम कर सकते हैं, लेकिन वे उसके वास्तविक व्यक्तित्व से प्रेम करें, यह निश्चित नहीं है।

युवक Anne के बालों को उसके कानों के पास बनी मधु-रंग की दीवारों जैसा बताता है। उसका कहना है कि लोग बाहरी सुंदरता से आकर्षित होते हैं और अक्सर व्यक्ति के अंदरूनी गुणों को नहीं देख पाते।

Anne उत्तर देती है कि वह अपने बालों को भूरा, काला या गाजर जैसे रंग में रंग सकती है। उसे लगता है कि यदि उसके बालों का रंग बदल जाएगा, तो शायद लोग उसके बालों के बजाय उसके वास्तविक रूप से प्रेम करेंगे।

अंत में युवक कहता है कि एक बूढ़े धार्मिक व्यक्ति ने कहा था कि केवल ईश्वर ही किसी व्यक्ति से उसके सच्चे स्वरूप के लिए प्रेम कर सकता है, न कि उसके बाहरी रूप के लिए। कविता हमें सिखाती है कि सच्चा प्रेम बाहरी सुंदरता से ऊपर होना चाहिए।

Stanza-wise Summary

Important Points to Form Answers

• The poem is written by William Butler Yeats.
• The poem is a conversation between a young man and Anne Gregory.
• The poem discusses physical beauty and true love.
• The young man says young men may love Anne for her beautiful yellow hair.
• Anne’s hair is described as honey-coloured.
• The word “ramparts” suggests the beauty and strong visual impact of her hair around her ears.
• The young man doubts whether human beings can love someone for the inner self alone.
• Anne says she can dye her hair brown, black or carrot-coloured.
• Anne believes that changing her appearance may help people love her true self.
• The young man says only God can love a person for the person’s self alone.
• The poem criticises superficial attraction based only on physical appearance.
• The poem suggests that true love should value inner qualities.
• The poem uses dialogue form to present two viewpoints.
• The tone is thoughtful, conversational and philosophical.
• The central contrast is between outer beauty and inner worth.

Difficult Words with Meanings and Synonyms

Poetic Devices Used in For Anne Gregory

Stanza-wise Question and Answers

Important Question and Answers

HOTS / Deep Thinking Question and Answers

Extract-Based Questions

Quick Revision Box

Final Conclusion

For Anne Gregory is a thoughtful poem about beauty, love and inner identity. Yeats shows that people are often attracted by physical appearance, but true love should go beyond outward beauty. The poem ends with the idea that only God can love someone completely for the true self alone.